


How To Commit Identity Fraud: A Guide For Misplaced Time Travelers

by watery_melon_baller



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blanket Permission, Bloodbending (Avatar), Chaos, Comedy, Explicit Language, Fluff, Friendship, Gay, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Post-Canon, Property Destruction, Republic City, Swearing, The Krew (Avatar), Theft, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel, Various Other Crimes, and the inherent homoeroticism that comes with it, but its lok what were u expecting, but seriously no romance just light flirting this is all gen no ships, characters doing dumb shit, emotional whiplash, hey why isn't the Krew a tag it totally should be, i know the first chapter is bad i promise it gets better, just a tad, just six queer teenagers, loks seriousness vs gaangs silliness: FIGHT, no romance here folks - Freeform, oh there are some ships in this btw but it’s a blink and u miss it thing most of em are canon tho, ok this is a little cracky, the gaang can be a little silly. as a treat, the gaang fucks around and finds out, this isn’t a crack fic!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:33:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 48,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watery_melon_baller/pseuds/watery_melon_baller
Summary: The misadventures of six teenagers running loose in Republic City.OR:How the Gaang somehow manage to make everyone in Republic City’s lives both ten times better, and five times worse.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, the gaang - Relationship
Comments: 163
Kudos: 668





	1. The Gaang wonders where the fuck they are

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y’all. Its me. The second person who runs this account and provides witty commentary in the notes. Bet ya didn’t think I could write, did ya? Me neither, but I felt inspired, so here ya go. My wonderful friend who runs this account said that it was good, so I’m sharing it with the world!  
> *This takes place in season 1 of Korra, and loosely follows canon. This is also post atla, and I’m picking and choosing what i want from the comics bc I’m lazy :P

It was a wonderful day in Republic City. Birds were chirping, cars were beeping and honking, and even the Equalizers were content to just relax. Everything was perfect and calm. Nothing could ruin it. Nothing, except for six chaotic teenagers.

Katara woke up first. She and the rest of the gaang were all lying asleep in Appa's saddle. This wasn't strange. What was strange was the fact that she had no idea how any of them had gotten there, with all of them being in their respective kingdoms doing their duties after the war. Zuko was still in his Fire Lord robes! And she didn't recognize their surroundings either. They were by an isolated section of beach, so no one was around to see them, but behind them was a massive city, unlike anything she'd ever seen. She immediately decided to wake everyone up before she panicked.

“Aang, babe, wake up.” She shook him. He hummed, and then rolled over. Katara was not happy with this. She was really starting to freak out, and she wanted some explanations.

“Wake… UP!” There were multiple screams of fright as a large wave of ice cold water was dumped onto the sleeping gaang by a very stressed waterbender.

“Katara, what the fuck?” Toph spit out a wet leaf that had drifted into her mouth. “Why did you do that?”

“Uh, guys? Where are we?” Everyone turned, and noticed Aang pointing to the large statue of well… himself.

“That's the problem, I don't know!! I don't know where we are or how we got here!” Katara said with a panicky tone.

Sokka put his hand on Katara’s shoulder. “Ok guys, let's calm down. The best thing to do here would probably be to go explore the city and try to figure out what happened. Aang, you should stay here with Appa and Momo, since there's a giant statue of you that makes you VERY recognizable.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, because Sokka was the plan guy, and most of his plans worked.

“Alright then, let's go.”

______

Toph, Zuko, Suki, and Katara were walking through the streets of Republic City, with Sokka leading the way. Katara and Sokka had left their parkas back with Appa, but Zuko was still in his Fire Lord robes, minus the headpiece which he had hidden in his robes.

“People keep looking at us weird,” Zuko whispered. He nervously styled his bangs so they would cover his scar.

“Yeah, probably because of all the statues of us,” Suki replied as they passed yet another Toph statue. “Why are there so many Toph statues anyways?”

“I probably just metalbent them all. And who would dare oppose me, the mighty Toph?” Toph cackled, attracting a few strange looks.

“The point is guys, we're too recognizable. We need to change our outfits, go undercover. And look, there's a shop right there!” Sokka pointed excitedly towards a large store with some very snazzy looking outfits on display in the windows.

“You just wanna go shopping, don't you.” Katara snorted.

“Hey, can't a guy just wanna indulge himself?” Sokka smugly replied.

“Guys c'mon, let's just go change before someone gets too curious,” Suki said as she grabbed both water tribe siblings and dragged them into the shop.

______

Inside, Katara pulled a sleeveless blue dress with a white hem off of a hanger. “Suki, what do you think of this dress?”

Suki turned around from the mirror she was using to put gold fan barrettes in her hair. “It's so pretty! You would look so good in it.” She snagged a pair of lime bell bottom pants with a red hem. “Hmm, these are kinda cute. But are they practical…?”

Meanwhile, Toph was rummaging around and found a bright purple vest. She changed out of her Earth Rumble gi and shrugged the vest on. “How do I look, Sparky?”

Zuko, meanwhile, had also found a vest, with a gold chain that connected the two sides. He was currently holding up a pair of dark grey boots. “Purple… isn't really your color.” He handed her a green vest with a gold wing lapel. “Here's something a little more… Tophish.”

Toph tossed the purple vest onto the floor and put on the green one. “If this makes me look weird, I'll steal your fancy fire nation headpiece and bend it into another statue of me.”

Sokka snorted. “Check this baby out.” Sokka had found a light blue jacket that looked like a mix of an arcade carpet and a reject 60’s disco pattern, paired with the most obnoxious orange sunglasses to ever grace the planet. “You can't beat this look.”

Zuko was silent for a few seconds. “Ditch the sunglasses. Please.”

“Only if you ditch your weird pointy-toed Fire nation boots.”

Zuko sighed. “Deal.”

“Those things are so ugly, Zuko,” Sokka sympathetically patted him on the back. “I'm doing the world a favor.”

Suki had changed into a nice pink shirt and the lime pants from before. She had also changed into black slip-ons so it would be easier for her to do acrobatics and move around. “Oh, we should get Aang some clothes! What do you think he'd like?” She grabbed a floppy pale pink sun hat with a blue flower on the brim, and turned to evaluate a blue armband. “This is kinda cute…”

Sokka snatched it out of her arms. “Perfect, he'll love it.” Sokka had changed into dark blue pants. He was still wearing the disco jacket. “He'll probably like these too,” He held up an orange shirt and a bright yellow jacket with ridiculously floppy sleeves. “And you should definitely get that armband.”

Smiling, she slipped it on. “Hey Sokka, why are your pants rolled up like that?” Suki pointed down towards Sokka’s cuffed pants.

Sokka stared quietly at them for a long time. “I don't know. It just… felt right.”

\-----

“What do you mean, it's 170AG???” Katara asked yet again, as if the answer would somehow change.

“Honey, I don't know what to tell you. It's been 70 years since the 100 year war ended, Avatar Aang died 17 years ago, and Avatar Korra is the current avatar. She's in the city right now.” The old shopkeeper repeated, looking tired of saying the same thing.

“But are you sure-”

“Katara! C'mere!”

Katara turned towards her brother. “What?”

“Uh… We didn't bring any money.” Katara sighed, because although her brother was the plan guy and could be a genius, he also could be incredibly stupid.

She turned around to look at the shopkeeper, who had gone from looking annoyed to increasingly angry. Katara nervously laughed. “You wouldn't mind giving these to us for free, would you…?”

______

The shop exploded.

“GO GO GO GO GO!!!!!!”. “Sorry about your shop!” Suki called back as they ran. Toph cackled in response, and started earthbending them away.

“Police! Someone get them!” The shopkeeper cried out in rage at the rapidly disappearing group of children.

Unfortunately for them, there happened to be a metalbending officer right there enjoying a snack break. He mournfully put down his sandwich. “All right you hooligans, get back here!”

Meanwhile, Suki had taken notice of their metal pursuer. “Uh guys, there's a police guy after us!”

“I got this,” Zuko said as he shot a blast of fire. The metalbender dodged, and the fire blast hit a nearby car, which started obnoxiously beeping. Zuko clearly did not got this.

“Ok, new plan. Let's stop earthbending away, and just sprint. It'll be harder to keep track of us in a crowd.” Sokka grabbed Zuko and Suki’s hands, not noticing both of their blushes. “Everyone hold hands!”

The five of them ran through the crowd linking hands, losing the officer along the way. Eventually, they made it back to Appa, where Aang was sitting and looking bored out of his mind. “Oh hey guys, you're back! Did you learn anything?” Oh right, that was the whole point of the trip.

“We got you these. Put them on.” Sokka threw the clothes at Aang, which smacked him in the face.

“Actually, I did learn something,” Katara said gravely. “It's been 70 years since the 100 year war ended. And Aang…” She looked at Aang, who was in the middle of trying to angle his hat so it wouldn't cover his eyes. “You died seventeen years ago. The current avatar is a water tribe girl named Korra.”

It was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. Well, you probably wouldn't have heard a pin drop, since they were outside standing by the water, but you probably could have heard it splashing into the water. Or the mud. Wait, that’s literally just the saying. Let's get back to the depressing silence.

“Well that sure killed the mood.”

“Sokka!”

“Sorry, Katara.”

Aang frowned. “That must be why I can't get in contact with any of my past selves. I meditated while you guys were gone, and no one was there. If we time traveled 70 years to a time where I'm dead and there's a new avatar, it would make sense that I can't connect to the rest of the past avatars like usual.”

“That's great, but it brings up an even bigger question,” Zuko said. “How did we get here, and how are we gonna get home?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did y’all like it? I don’t really care if u did or not, since I’m gonna be writing this anyways. Sorry this first chapter is short, I wrote it at 2am. Updates are gonna be sporadic at best, but I’m actually invested in this so we’ll see how it goes.


	2. The Gaang commits some more crimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe, bet ya didn't expect me to update this so fast, didja? Well me neither, but here it is. Also I have a plot now!  
> ALSO: Shoutout to GenofBlazes for pointing out that Toph is blind, idk how I missed that and I went back and edited it so thanks dude  
> Hope y'all enjoy it :)

The gaang decided that the smart thing to do was to go explore the city and see what had changed, and see if there were any clues on what the fuck had happened to them, since their surroundings had provided no insight. Also, walking around the city would distract them from their less than ideal circumstances.

Aang sadly looked around. “Everyone here is wearing grey. It's so…”

Sokka patted him on the back “Boring?”

Zuko sighed. “I can practically feel the depression. Many dreams have died here.”

Suki elbowed him. “Ok, drama queen. I'm more focused on that delicious smell. Look!” Sokka pointed to a nearby food stand. “It looks so good,” he said, drifting towards it.

“Sokka, we don't have any money, remember?” Katara said, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulling him away.

“But I'm so hungry…” He pouted as he was dragged away from the delicious, delicious meat stand.

“Sokka's right Katara. We need to eat something.” On cue, Aang’s stomach growled.

“Well what do you suggest we do?” Katara said, placing her hands on her hips. “We don't have any money right now.”

Zuko pulled out his swords. “We can just do this.” He kicked over the food stand and scooped up all the food with his swords. “RUN!”

For the second time that day, the gaang was running away from wrecking someone's shop after robbing them.

“Hey look! It's those metalbender police again!” Toph pointed to the two benders currently chasing after them, one who was the guy from earlier. One of them shot a metal cable in their direction. “Incoming!”

Toph snagged the cable before it could reach them and used it to fling the officer into a nearby statue of a cabbage merchant.  
A distressed cry of “Not my cabbage statue!” could be faintly heard from inside the building.

They crashed through several food stands, knocking food all over the ground. Bystanders were shouting, covered in food, and the vendors were shouting in rage. It was pure chaos. Sokka scooped up two mangos and threw one at the remaining officer, which splatted him in the face, doing absolutely nothing to stop him. Katara quickly bent a spilled pot of soup off the ground, and hurled it at the officer, freezing him in a soupy chunk of ice. “Sorry!” She called out behind her. The officer, who was covered in mango and now frozen in soup, cried out in rage as the six teens fled yet again another robbery.

_____

They eventually escaped the chaos they had just caused, stopping in a random alleyway.

“We have got to stop robbing innocent people,” Katara huffed, putting her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. “That's twice in one afternoon!”

“I dunno Katara, property destruction is kinda fun” Toph smirked, also out of breath.

“Let's worry about our various crimes later. I'm starving, and would like to eat the food we just stole.” Suki replied. “Do you guys see anywhere we can sit and eat that isn't a dirty alleyway?”

“Let me check.” Aang jumped up, using his airbending to float high enough to get a good view of the surrounding area. “There's a park just over there! We can eat there.”

“Aang, you probably shouldn't be using your airbending.” Katara hissed. “There probably aren't that many airbenders, and it would be suspicious if there was one just casually bending. The whole point of those clothes was to hide your arrows so we can go undercover”

Aang floated down and sighed. “Yeah, you're right.” He didn't look very happy about it. “The park is that way. Let's start walking.”

Thankfully, the park was only a few blocks away. “Woah, this thing is huge!” Sokka exclaimed as they walked in.

The park itself was very large, filled with lush green grass and big green trees. Flowers and bushes we're all over the place. There were even a few small rivers and ponds with fish swimming peacefully in them, and small bridges to cross them. It was a welcome change of pace from the loud, crowded grey city that the Gaang had been introduced to.

They decided on a small area by a nearby river, with some bushes for hiding and a tree for shade. Not many people were around, so it was the perfect place for an impromptu picnic. Zuko set down the contents of their stolen lunch, which included soups, sandwiches, and even a few kebabs.

“Uh, is there by chance anything vegetarian in there?” Aang asked. Zuko pushed over a salad, and tossed over a loaf of bread. “There's this.”

Sokka pulled out a mango. “Here ya go. You could also just pick out the meat from a sandwich.”

Aang bit into the mango. “Thanks guys.” The rest of the gaang proceeded to dig in.

“Man, I did not realize how hungry I was until just now.” Katara said around a mouthful of sandwich. “This tastes so good.”

“Definitely worth the property destruction.” Toph replied, before tilting the bowl and slurping her soup.

Katara made a noise, like she was about to object, but stopped, too tired and hungry to argue. Also because she realized that none of them had any silverware, the food they stole not coming with utensils.

“So what's our plan from here?” Suki asked, taking a bite from a kebab.

Katara set down her sandwich. “Well, we know when and where we are, but not how we got here. We also know that Aang is dead,” At this, Aang pouted. “Sorry Aang. We also know that the current avatar is from the southern water tribe, is 17 years old, and is currently in the city right now.”

“If Aang is dead, who else is dead?” Sokka asked, chewing on a meat kebab.

There was a heavy silence as they all realized that there was a good chance that some of them were dead this far into the future.

Toph broke it. “There's no way I'm dead. I can feel it. I would never be defeated by something as weak as death. I am the mighty Toph Beifong! I'm probably being a crabby old lady chilling in a swamp or something.”

Zuko sighed. “I wish I was a crabby old lady chilling in a swamp. Ruling a country at 16 is not fun.”

Katara turned to him, alarmed. “Zuko, you can't just say things like that!”

Zuko threw up his hands. “What? It's a reasonable request!”

Sokka snapped his fingers, getting everyone's attention. “As wonderful as that sounds, let's get back on track. We still don't know how we even managed to time travel 70 years into the future. Also, I'm still hungry. Is there any meat left?”

“There's a salad left,” Suki offered.

Sokka made a face. “No way, I said meat, not leaves.”

“Suit yourself,” she replied. “Me and Aang are gonna split it.” They fistbumped, and Suki slid a portion of the salad over towards Aang.

“There's fish in this river. We could catch and cook one.” Zuko suggested, pointing to the fish lazily swimming by them.

Katara sighed. “You know what, I'm just going to give you a fish because as funny as it would be to see you two try and fail to catch a fish with your bare hands, I don't want to attract attention.” She bent a globe of water out of the river, splashing water and a fish onto the grass.

“Hey, we have swords! We could totally fish!” Sokka said accusingly, puffing up his chest. “But, thanks.”

Toph leant back onto the tree and crossed her legs, grinning. “I can't wait for this to go hilariously wrong.”

Zuko glared at her. “It's not going to go wrong. How hard can it be? We skewer the fish, then I heat it up with bending.” As he talked, Sokka stabbed the fish with his space sword. “Alright Zuko, let's light this baby up!” He held out the fish on a sword.“This baby is ready for cooking.”

Zuko took a deep breath, then exhaled, his hands now cradling a flame. He stuck his hands under the fish. “So how long do I need to do this for?”

Sokka looked away guiltily . “Uh, like 30 minutes?”

“Sokka!” Zuko shouted. The flame grew slightly larger in response. “Ugh, I can't believe this,” he muttered under his breath.

The sunlight and the peaceful crackling of the fire slowly caused the Gaang to sit back and relax. For a moment, all was right with the world.

Toph, of course, had to be the one to ruin it. “Hey Sparky. I have an idea.”

Zuko turned towards her. “What is it? Because the last “idea” turned me into a living campfire.”

“No no, this is actually a good idea.” Toph leaned forward. “I don't know much about cooking, but it stands to reason that if you make the fire hotter the food cooks faster. So if you make a super hot flame, it'll take 30 seconds instead of 30 minutes!”

Zuko pondered this for a moment. “That checks out. What could go wrong?” He immediately superheated the flame.

I'll give you a hint on what happened, right now. The hint is that it went very, very wrong.

“ZUKO, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY FISH???” Sokka screamed in horror at the burnt, charred mess that used to be a fish.

Zuko was still reeling from the foot tall pillar of superheated flame he had created. “It's still edible?” In response, the “fish” started smoking.

“Uh guys, I think we have a bigger problem.” Katara pointed towards an officer who was walking towards them, looking extremely angry.

“Ah shit, we gotta go again. C'mon!” Toph stood up, swaying a bit from the sudden movement. The Gaang took this as their cue to get the fuck out of there.

They eventually slowed to a stop on another random street. “Man, we need a map. I have no idea where we're going!” Sokka huffed.

“Maybe that guy can help.” Zuko pointed towards a man running a stand with lots of pamphlets. He was yelling something, but the gaang were too far away to hear.

“Sure, that works.” Sokka shrugged, walking towards the man, the rest of the gaang falling in line.

As they walked closer, they could begin to make out some of what the man was saying.

“NON BENDERS OF REPUBLIC CITY! AMON CALLS YOU TO ACTION!”

Sokka walked over and slammed his hand on the table. “Hey. What the fuck is going on here. Also, do you have a map of the city?”

The man stopped and blinked in confusion. “Uh... Would you like to know more about the Equalists and the greatness of Amon?”

Sokka sighed. “If you give me a map so me and my friends aren’t hopelessly lost, then sure. Why not.” He gestured to the rest of the Gaang, who were awkwardly standing behind him. Suki waved in response.

The man zeroed in on Katara's water flask. “Her! She is your sister, is she not? And yet she’s a bender, and you aren’t!”  
Sokka shrugged in response. “Yeah, my little sister’s a bender. It has nothing to do with this. I just want a map.”

The man leant forward, clearly riled up. “Nothing to do with this? It has EVERYTHING to do with this! Is she not favored in your tribe, simply because she is a waterbender and you are not? Don’t you feel overshadowed by your little sister, simply because she can bend and you can’t?”

“Dude-” Sokka tried to cut him off, but there was no stopping the man once he got started.

“Every conflict throughout history has been caused by bending! Bending gives people an unfair advantage in society, and non-benders are the ones left suffering for it. But the Equalists can change that! We will make society equal! The age of benders is over, and we non-benders will rise up and make everyone equal!”

Sokka started to back away. “Dude, I just wanted a map…”

Suki stormed forward and slammed her hands down on the table. “Listen dude, do you have a map?”

He stuttered, clearly caught off guard by someone interrupting him. “Uh.. No? But-”

“Then we don’t care about what you have to say. C'mon guys, let’s get out of here.” Suki grabbed Sokka’s arm and pulled him away. “We don’t need to listen to this guy’s shit.”  
The rest of them followed as the guy continued to shout about equality. The mood had once again been dampened.

“Sokka…” Katara started. “I don’t make you feel… lesser, do I? I know that you can swordfight, but I don’t think less of you just because you aren't a bender.”

Sokka shrugged. “I don’t really feel that way anymore, but I did for a while. But I wouldn’t have traded you for anything, and I never resented you. It’s just how life is.”

“Hey guys, look over there!” Breaking the awkwardness, Aang pointed over to a man with a strange device. There was a couple standing in front of it, and they stood still while the device flashed. They were then handed a slip of paper, and walked off. “What did he just do?”

“Let’s go check it out then.” Zuko said, walking over.

“Ah, tourists!” The man called out cheerfully as they approached. “Would you like your picture taken? It’s free!”

Aang shrugged. “Uh, sure? Why not?”

“Great! Just all stand right here, and face the camera!” The man gestured to the area in front of the “camera”, which was supposedly the machine.

“Toph, you need to be facing this way.” Zuko whispered, nudging her in the direction of the camera.  
“Everyone smile!” The man said cheerfully. Toph threw up peace signs, while Sokka threw both of his arms around Suki and Zuko. Aang adjusted his hat so he could see the camera, and grinned.

FLASH!

“There you kids go!” He handed them a piece of paper, which looked like a snapshot of how they were standing a few seconds ago!

“Ah! Did you steal our souls?” Sokka yelped.

The cameraman gave them an odd look. “It’s a photograph. It captures a perfect likeness of whatever you want with the simple click of a button.” He frowned. “Where are you kids from anyways?”

Katara nervously laughed. “Oh, we aren’t from around here. We’re just visitors.”

The man suddenly relaxed, as if something had been made clear to him, which it shouldn’t have because Katara had responded as vaguely as possible. “Ah, ok, I get it.” He said knowingly. “Well, you kids have fun exploring the city. Do you guys have a map?”

Sokka gasped. “We’ve been searching for a map all day!”

The man laughed. “Well then here. I know this city well enough that I don’t need it. You kids will get more usage out of it then I will.” He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket, which unfolded into a map, and handed it to Katara.  
“Have a nice visit, you six!”

“Thank you!” Katara replied as she and the rest of the gaang walked away. As she watched Aang tuck the photo of the six of them into his pocket, she thought that maybe the future wasn’t so bad after all.

_____

Inside a dimly lit office, the two officers from earlier were standing in front of a desk.

“And what happened again?”

The first officer gulped. “There were six kids. A waterbender, an earthbender, and a firebender, and three others. They exploded a clothing store, destroyed several food stands, and were later sighted in the park by another officer.”

‘You were defeated by six kids?”

THe second office jumped in. “These were very skilled kids. The earthbender is also a metalbender. They took us out easily, and practically vanished into thin air. They took us down easily, while both stealing and destroying property.”

The woman behind the desk sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You two are dismissed.”

“Yes Chief Beifong.” The two quickly sped out the door.

Lin sighed again. First the Equalists, and now there was a gang of children running around the city and causing a panic? And according to her officers, these were no ordinary kids, but a group of extremely skilled benders that had already thrown the city into a ruckus in just a day.

She stood up and pulled the officers report towards her to read over. “I’ll be taking this case on myself.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> katara trying to be cryptic: we aren't from around here  
> the photo guy connecting the lack of tech knowledge and the odd clothing: oh, they're [insert Atla equivalent of the Amish]
> 
> And there's Lin! She's on the case and ready to beat up some teenagers. Also I drew some fanart, so pls don't be too mean :(  
> Idk when this will update again, but probably soon if i ignore all my missing assignments :P


	3. The return of Obnoxious Tourism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my first chapters: 1k, 3k, about 4k total  
> my third chapter: 9k, an absolute monster 
> 
> ehehehe fanfictions my name and inconsistency is my game baby

After they had gotten their photo taken, the Gaang noticed that it was starting to get dark, and decided they should probably find someplace to sleep. Luckily for them, with the help of the odd lamps on poles and their map, they were successfully able to retrace their steps and return to Appa. Unfortunately, there was a problem.

“We don’t have our sleeping rolls!” Katara realized as they stood in front of Appa. She was right. Whatever mysterious force had decided to bring them here had unfortunately decided not to transport any supplies with them. 

“We could go back and steal some blankets. We’ve already committed a bunch of crimes today, why not commit more?” Sokka mused.

Katara scowled. “No, we aren’t doing any more stealing. And besides, I don’t think any of us have the energy for another heist.” She gestured to the rest of the Gaang, who were barely awake. 

Aang perked up. “I have an idea!” He quickly airbent at Appa, lots of fur flying off. He then bent it all into one large pile right by the sleeping bison. “There! Makeshift bed! We’ll all just have to sleep together.” He grinned, looking proud of himself, then yawned.

“Sounds good to me, Twinkletoes.” Toph flopped down onto the pile of fur. The rest of the gang joined her, trying to get situated.

“Ow! Get your elbow out of my stomach”

“Well you’re sitting on my arm!”

“Guys, let’s try not to fight. Katara, scooch a bit further from Sokka so you guys aren’t in each other's space.”

“Woah, you are WARM!”

Everyone stopped to look at Toph, who was clinging to Zuko’s arm with a manic grin. “He’s like a portable heat pack!”

Zuko shifted. “Firebenders naturally run hot.”

Sokka zoomed on over. “Wow, Toph was right. You are warm.” He leaned on Zuko’s other shoulder. “So cozy.”

“I want in on firebender cuddles!” Aang cried, cuddling up to Zuko. Katara and Suki scooted over too. Zuko sighed, but clearly didn’t mind. “Am I just the group heater now?”

Sokka shushed him. “Shh. It’s sleepy time. Sokka is tired.” Suki snorted in response, patting Sokka’s hand. “Goodnight you guys,” she quietly whispered.

The Gaang all mumbled goodnight back, and eventually they all drifted off into sleep.

_____

The next day found the Gaang walking through Republic City. They were currently arguing about their next move.

“But we should see the sights!” Aang cried. “We’re tourists! We’re 70 years in the future! There’s so much to do!”

Sokka sighed. “I totally agree with you. I wanna chill out too! But these Equalizer guys sound like a lot of trouble, and we should probably investigate.”

Aang pouted. “But-!”

Katara put a hand on Sokka’s shoulder. “I get that you think we should be responsible. We probably should! But don’t you just wanna take a break from being the saviors of the world, just for a little bit? I know I’m tired of fixing the worlds problems. This isn’t even our world, and we should enjoy the future we’ve worked so hard to make.”

Sokka looked at her quietly for a few seconds. “You’re right.” His shoulders slumped. He paused for a moment, then perked right up. “Alright! What do we wanna do then?”

Aang pointed to a massive colosseum. “I wanna go there! Apparently that’s the “Pro-bending” ring, whatever that is.”

Toph smacked her fist into her open palm. “Whatever it is, I bet I could totally wipe the floor with the other contestants.” She grinned.

Katara sighed. “Well, not everyone wants to go watch a bending sport. I wanted to explore a bit.” She looked around frantically. “Uh, Suki and Zuko wanted to go with me!”

Zuko looked confused. “Wait, I what-”

“Sure! I don’t mind going with you Katara!” Suki blurted out. She smiled. “We should have some girl time! We never get to hang out.”

Zuko shrugged. “As long as we aren’t running from angry metalbending police officers, I don’t really care.” 

Katara grinned. “Great! Me, Suki, and Zuko will all hang out together. There were some really cute shops I saw…”

Aang grabbed Toph’s arm. “Me and Toph are gonna head to the pro-bending ring then. Sokka? Wanna come with?”

Sokka held out both of his hands. “Ok, wait a second you guys. We need some ground rules!”

Toph groaned. “Rules? Ugh, stop trying to ruin our fun.”

“No, no, we actually need some rules. We can’t just wander off into the city by ourselves.” Sokka protested. “Ok, first rule. Try to be as inconspicuous as possible. We don’t need to draw any more attention to ourselves then we already have.” Toph started to protest, but Sokka cut her off. “Yes, I know we could probably take those metalbender police, but it would be a lot easier if we didn’t do that. Rule number two. No muder!” There were several groans. “NO trying to kill anyone! None of that! We aren’t in a war! No one needs to be dying!” He sighed and rubbed his temples. “Rule number three. We need to all be back by, uh, four. That's when we should all meet up again. And we should all meet up… over THERE!” He pointed in the distance towards the Aang statue.

Katara frowned. “Sokka, that's just a statue. I don’t think we can actually go there.”

Sokka shook his head. “No, it’s actually a museum! We can learn about all the cool shit we did in the past 70 years!”

Katara sighed. “Sure, why not. We’ll meet at the giant statue of my boyfriend at four.”

“Great!” Sokka grinned. “Now let's go be obnoxious tourists.”

_____

Aang, Toph, and Sokka headed over to the bending arena. Toph grinned. “I can’t WAIT to kick everyone's asses. Even in the future, I’ll prove that Toph Beifong is the best earthbender in the world.”

Sokka glanced at her. “Remember, we’re trying to keep a low profile. Something tells me that beating up a bunch of people is going to attract attention.”

Toph snorted. “Fine, I’ll go easy on them. Win for a few rounds, then let one of them get in a ‘lucky’ shot.”

Aang poked Sokka in the shoulder. “Hey guys, we’re here.”

The stadium was a LOT larger up close. The faint sounds of cheering and shouting could be heard from inside. Ahead of them, there was someone manning the counter. Toph walked up to him and slammed her hand down onto the table, shooting the vendor a disturbing grin. “So, how much does it cost to join a match?”

The vendor looked at her, unamused. “We don’t let kids join these matches. Currently, we’re in the middle of a tournament, so you couldn’t join even if you were old enough.” He glanced back at an awkwardly standing Sokka and Aang. “Also, you need a team of three to join. A water, earth, and firebender. And from the looks of it, you clearly don’t have that.” Toph scowled, and looked like she was going to say something else, but Sokka stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry about that, she was just really hoping to join.” He shot an awkward smile at the vendor.

The vendor gave the three of them a Look. “It’s gonna cost ten yuans per person, but the kids get a half off discount. 20 yuans if you want in.” Abruptly, Sokka remembered that oh yeah, they didn’t have any money. That was the whole reason they had committed so many crimes in the first place. He desperately checked his pockets, as if a “yuan” would magically appear there. Apparently there was a standardized currency system now. “Uh, would you accept authentic Water Tribe seal jerky?”

Meanwhile, Aang had snuck inside. He wanted to see inside the stadium, and it seemed like Sokka and Toph would be busy for a while with the ticket vendor. They probably wouldn’t even miss him! He’d be fine. As he walked through the hallways, Aang realized that he had no idea where he was going. He was pretty sure he was supposed to be heading towards all the cheering, but he must have made a wrong turn somewhere, because he was in a training room. Well, no one had told him he couldn’t be back here yet, so he was going to keep on walking until he found something. 

Aang walked through the training room, taking note of the odd earth discs. He grabbed one, testing it out. It was light enough to easily toss around, but heavy and solid enough to do some serious damage when thrown right. He stretched, then decided to try bending the discs. He needed some earthbending practice anyways, according to Toph. He tossed one into the air experimentally, keeping an ear out for any guards. Suddenly, there was a squeak. Startled, Aang dropped the disc, and froze, hoping no one had heard the loud thud. He turned towards the direction the squeaking sound had been in, and found himself looking at a door someone had left open. Slowly, Aang walked over and peered inside.

It was clearly some sort of preparation room. There was gear, some water bottles, and various personal belongings strewn about. In the middle of that though, was one of the cutest animals Aang had ever seen.

“Hey little guy”, He said hesitantly, slowly moving towards the animal wearing an absolutely adorable outfit. Aang was pretty sure it was a fire ferret, what with the red coloring and ferret body. He stuck out his hand, watching as the ferret sniffed it, then climbed up his arm. On the back of his outfit, Aang noticed “Pabu” had been stitched on.

He started petting the ferret’s head. “So your name is Pabu, huh?” He looked out, and noticed he could actually see the bending match from here. It looked like there were three people on each team: a firebender, an earthbender, and a waterbender. The discs from earlier were being thrown, and small flame and water whips were being used. Aang unfortunately, didn’t have any more time to watch, as he heard heavy footsteps. He quickly ran back into the gym, then tried to fix the discs when he realized that they had all fallen over from earlier. 

“Who’s there?” Uh oh. Aang looked up, discs in hand, at whoever had entered the room. “Aw, motherfucker,” he softly swore, realizing that it was a metalbending police officer. The metalbender glared at him. “Hey kid, you aren’t supposed to be in here-”

Reacting on instinct, he threw the two discs in his hands at the metalbender, which smacked him in both the face and the stomach. Aang quickly sprinted out with a slight boost from airbending, yelling a “Sorry!” over his shoulder as he sped away.

Outside, Sokka was still attempting to haggle. Toph had bent herself a seat, watching in amusement.

The vendor, thoroughly fed up with Sokka’s bullshit, growled. “Listen buddy, if you don’t have any money, I’m gonna have to call the guards. You need to leave.”

“Wait wait wait!” Sokka protested, reaching towards his pocket. “I’m definitely gonna change your mind with this-”

“RUN!” Aang sprinted past them, four metalbenders in tow.

“Oh shit!” Toph swore, grinning. She chucked her makeshift seat at them, hitting one in the face. She grabbed Sokka’s arm. “C’mon Snoozles, run!”

Sokka started sprinting, attempting to keep up with Aang’s breakneck pace. Seriously, was that kid using airbending to cheat or something? Behind them, Toph bent up an earth wall in an attempt to slow their pursuers down. 

“There!” Aang pointed to a random side street, and the three slid down it just as the earth wall came crashing down, the benders sprinting right past them.

Aang sighed. “That was close-wha!” Sokka had slapped a hand over Aang’s mouth and shushed him, ignoring Aang licking his hand. And just in time too, as the metalbenders came back. They stood outside the alleyway, and Sokka strained his ears to overhear their conversation.

“Disappeared right here-”

“-same kids from yesterday-”

“-dangerous-”

“-tell the Chief-”

Sokka couldn’t catch the rest, but waited a few seconds after they left before sighing long and loudly. “Aang, that was gross.” Sokka said, glaring at Aang and he wiped his slimy hand off onto his pants. Aang just smiled innocently back at him. 

Toph sat down. “So what’s our plan from here? Obviously the pro-bending match didn’t work out.” The three sat in silence, trying to figure out what to do. 

“We need to get some money.” Sokka decided. “Not having money is the whole reason we keep getting into these messes.”

“But how?” Aang asked.

“We could always commit insurance fraud again.” Toph suggested.

Sokka hummed in consideration. “That could work. We’d have to be careful, we all remember what happened last time.”

There was a squeak coming from Aang's direction. Sokka turned in Aang's direction. “Aang, what did you do?”

There was another squeak, and Aang looked away guiltily. Then, a fire ferret crawled out of Aang's jacket.

Sokka and Aang stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Aang broke down. “I was exploring, and I found him hanging around, and he was wearing this cute outfit and it said his name was Pabu, and I guess he accidentally climbed in my jacket when I was escaping and I didn’t notice, and can we please keep him?”

Sokka sighed, and vaguely wondered if Zuko, Katara, and Suki were having as much fun as they were.

_____

Bolin took off his helmet and wiped his forehead. “Man, I am tired!” He took a sip from his water bottle, then stopped. “Hey guys, where’s Pabu?”

Mako shrugged, sitting on a bench. “I dunno. He probably just went exploring again. See, the door is wide open.” He gestured to the open door.

Bolin frowned, worried. “I could have sworn that was closed…”

“Hey guys?” Korra stood up, holding Pabu’s little uniform. “I think we might have a problem.”

_____

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Suki, and Katara were having plenty of fun. Zuko, on the other hand, was regretting not going with Sokka and Aang.

The three of them had plenty of money, since Zuko had snagged an obnoxious rich dude’s wallet while he was in the middle of yelling at some poor retail worker. Zuko had felt the pain the poor cashier was feeling, and did not regret a thing, even if the man was so angry he had started chasing them, forcing them to hide before he could involve any metalbenders. Now, the three of them were wandering around while Suki and Katara oohed and aahed over various stores.

Katara held up a small sculpture of an orca shark. “Oh, this is so pretty! And so accurately carved, too…” She sighed remorsefully before putting it back. “I’d buy it, but I get the feeling it would break while we run for our lives at some point.”

Zuko wanted to scream. He was the Firelord. He dealt with stubborn advisors and assasination attempts all the time. He could handle a simple shopping trip with Katara and Suki. He could do this.

“Do you see anything here you like, Zuko?”

Zuko put his face in his hands and quietly screamed.

Suki walked over, a yellow fan in hand. “Hey you guys, how’s shopping going?” She held up the fan. “It’s paper, but it’s still pretty.” She folded it up and tucked it into her waistband. “Found anything you wanted?”

“No”, Zuko said, voice muffled by his head in his hands.

Katara sniffed. “Zuko is impatient, and thinks I should pick something a little faster.”

Zuko looked up. “Only because you spend ten minutes looking at every item! You haven’t even bought anything!”

Katara opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. “Still.”

Suki nudged her with her elbow. “Zuko’s just being grumpy. He needs to cheer up!”

Katara lit up. “Oh, I know exactly what we should do! We should have a spa day!”

Zuko stared. “A what-”

“C'mon guys,” she said, grabbing both their arms and dragging them out of the store. “Let’s go.”

_____

Eventually they found a nice spa place. Zuko paid the entry fee, and the three were immediately swarmed by staff. Maybe it was because he paid a lot. He wasn’t sure how much the coins and slips of paper were worth, so Zuko had just shoved the cashier a handful of coins and paper. Currently, they were sitting in a hot tub, relaxing.

Katara sighed. “This was a good decision. We totally deserve a spa day after everything.”

Zuko leaned back and closed his eyes. “I did not realize how stressed I was until now. Being Firelord has aged me by 20 years.”

Suki nodded. “It was supposed to be easier after the war ended, but everything just seems to be more difficult.”

Katara gently splashed both of them. “This is supposed to be relaxation time, you two. No more talking about politics and other stressy things!”

A boy a few years older than them walked over. “Did you guys need anything?”

Katara smiled. “Thank you, but we’re ok for now.” As he left, she turned to the other two. “Ok, I love Aang, but that boy was pretty cute, don’t you think?”

Suki brought her hand up to her mouth. “He was pretty cute. Not that I don’t love Sokka, but I guess boys in the future only get more attractive.” She suddenly turned, alarmed. “Oh, Zuko, sorry!”

But Zuko was smirking too. “He was pretty cute, you’re right.” There was a beat of silence. “Wait, you guys didn’t think I was straight-?”

Katara flushed in embarrassment. “I didn’t want to assume-!”

Zuko’s expression turned serious. “Tell me everything about me that made you think I was straight, so I can change it immediately.”

Suki fistpumped the air. “Yes, thats three out of six queer members! At this rate, we’re gonna have to change it from the Gaang, to the Gayng. Get it?” There was silence, and Suki frowned. “I thought it was funny.”

Katara laughed, and smiled. “No, I got it. That was funny! So, you and Sokka…?”

“Bi, the both of us. We thought you already knew, so we never bothered with a whole coming out thing. But you!” Suki turned and pointed to Zuko. “I knew my gaydar was right!”

Katara frowned. “But what about Mai?”

Zuko shrugged. “She’s a lesbian. She’s dating Ty Lee now, didn’t you know? Me and her were kinda a repressed gay couple everyone wanted together, and partially dating for our own safety. The fire nation wasn’t exactly very gay friendly. I only managed to repeal the law against gay marriage a few months ago.”

“Huh,” Katara shrugged. “In the water tribe, we don’t really care who you love, although we tend to be a bit more private about it. Did you know Dad and Bato are dating? That was an awkward conversation with me and Sokka.”

Suki choked on air. “I’m sorry, your dad and Bato are WHAT?”

Before Katara could reply, the same boy from earlier came up to them. “You sure you guys don't need anything?” He sent a Look in Zuko’s direction, who just blushed and sank under the water in response.

Katara grinned. “Actually, I think we’re done with the sauna for now. Can we get our makeup done?”

The boy smiled. “Yep, just follow me when you’re ready!”

As he walked away, both girls turned to look at Zuko, who was now almost completely submerged in the water.

“You should ask him out! He’s totally into you!” Suki said excitedly.

Zuko hunched his shoulders. “I dunno, I’m not exactly much of a looker, what with the giant scar and all. And besides, I’m the Firelord, and he’s a boy 70 years in the future.”

Katara shrugged, still smiling. “That’s the fun of it! If it goes wrong, you never have to speak with him again. And Zuko, he clearly thinks you’re attractive if he’s flirting with you. As someone who is attracted to boys, I can confidently say that you are very good looking.” 

Suki put a hand on his shoulders. “Trust me Zuko, you look fine. Now go be gay and flirt with a boy!” She slapped him on the back, hard, pushing him forward into the water. “Whoops.”

Zuko glared, but did nothing because he loved his friends and was a pushover when it came to them.

The three of them followed Cute Boy to another room, where they were seated and immediately were swarmed by more staff. They began powdering their faces with tons of makeup, hemming and hawing over each product they used.

“Hmm, should we go with red or gold eyeshadow? Do you even want eyeshadow?”

Zuko shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind eyeshadow.”

Another woman looked at his face, then grimaced. She opened up a drawer and began rummaging through it. “Now, lets see if we have something to cover up that scar…”

Zuko flushed in anger, good mood ruined. “I don’t want you to do anything to my scar.” He growled. The woman eeped, then slammed the drawer shut.

Another woman was sitting in front of Katara. “Hmm, silver could work. Or maybe purple…”

Katara looked between the two colors. “Both are really pretty. Is there some way you could combine them?”

The woman perked up. “Oh, you are just wonderful! Yes, of course I can use both.”

After a while, the three had finally been let go from the clutches of the makeup ladies.

“Wow, Katara,” Suki said admiringly. Katara was wearing silver eyeliner with purple eyeshadow. “I think I’ve been chasing after the wrong water tribe sibling. That paired with that sleeveless dress….”

Katara blushed. “You look very pretty too!” Suki was wearing dark green eyeshadow that was similar to the green the Kyoshi warriors wore. Katara turned to look at both of their reflections. “I like this type of makeup. It’s a lot more subtle then I’m used to, but still makes you look pretty!”

“Wow, both you guys look great.”

The girls spun around to take in Zuko. Unlike the girls, he was only wearing gold eyeshadow. “Zuko, you look so good!” Katara squealed. “And now is the perfect time to go talk to that cute boy!” She shoved him towards Cute Boy.

Zuko turned and glared, but walked over anyway. “So, uh, you look… nice.”

Cute Boy turned and blushed. “Oh, it’s you! You look really cute too!, I’m Kiyin, by the way."

“Oh…” Zuko rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, blushing. “I’m… Lee.”

Kiyin smirked. “So, you clearly aren’t from around here. Visiting the city?”

Zuko shrugged. “Yeah, me and my friends are, uh, seeing the sights.” He paused, trying to think of something to say. “Do you… know any good noodle places around here?”

At this, Kiyin perked up. “Oh, Suri’s noodle shop is the best around! It’s like two streets from here. She uses some secret recipe that makes them taste amazing.” He grabbed Zuko’s hand and leaned in. “I could take you there some time. You’re pretty cute.”

Zuko turned bright red. He didn’t even know it was possible to turn that shade of red! He could feel his brain functions completely shutting down in the face of Kiyins pretty green eyes. “O-oh, that would be, nice…” This was a terrible idea, oh spirits he regretted everything.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Zuko’s desperate attempts at flirting were halted by an angry shout. “That’s them! Those are the thieves that robbed me earlier!” Startled, Zuko realized that it was the same man he had robbed earlier, two police in tow.

“Ah shit, I gotta go.” Zuko pulled his hand free and stepped back. He hesitated for a second. “Uh, maybe we can have that date later?” With that, he turned and sprinted, calling back to Suki and Katara. “Come on, let’s go!”

Katara looked at him as they ran, grinning. “Wow Zuko, I didn’t know you had those kind of seduction skills!”

Zuko shoved a pedestrian out of the way and avoided eye contact.

The two metalbenders were joined by three more. Ah, shit, Zuko thought as he ducked under a chunk of earth heading his way.

Suki pulled her paper fan out and looked at it mournfully. “Goodbye fan, you were so pretty.” She then turned and threw it at the closest metalbender, smacking him in the face.

Katara grabbed some water from a nearby fountain and froze them all in ice. There were more angry shouts as the three of them ran yet again from attacking an officer.

_____

Sokka thought it was a stupid idea. Sokka thought that there was no way it was true. Sokka was wrong, apparently.

Sokka thought that there was no way that 70 years in the future, money had changed from gold pieces into pink pieces of paper. But apparently, the world was crazy, and that was what they used now.

“If anything, the real scam is that in the future everyone decided that slips of paper have monetary value!” Toph has said, outraged. “It’s not our fault it’s so easy to replicate!” And honestly, who could argue with that?

So here they were, in this abandoned warehouse, currently replicating what counted for money in this world. They had found a large stack of paper, along with other supplies, in a storeroom of their temporary hideout. Aang was cutting up the paper, Pabu napping in his lap. Toph was dipping the slips into some pink dye they had made using the various supplies around them, and Sokka was painting the odd symbols on them.

“There!” Sokka said, looking at his finished yuan. Sure, the Aang face all the bills had was a bit wonky, but he actually had Aang in front of him, so his was definitely more accurate. “Look Aang, it’s you!” 

Aang frowned from where he was sitting. “Sokka, that doesn’t really look like me…”

Toph smiled, arms deep in pink dye. “I think it looks just like you!”

Sokka preened. “Why thank you, Toph, I have been practicing my art skills- wait.” He frowned at her. “Why do you feel the need to do that?”

Toph only laughed in response.

Sokka stretched, putting the yuan in a pile with all the other ones he had done. He stood up. “I’m gonna take a look around. Stretch my legs.”

Toph shrugged in response. “These ones need to dry anyways, so go ahead.”

Sokka walked off, leaving Aang and Toph to chat. He peeked around, noticing a few doorways. The first one he looked into was full of boxes full of supplies. It was where the three of them had found the paper and the paint. The second door was locked. Sokka tried shoving it, to no avail. He stopped and hmmed for a second. Then, he pulled out his sword. “Hyah!” He shouted, slicing the door in half. 

“If you wanted to get in there so bad, you could have just asked me to metalbend the door open for you!” Toph shouted.

Sokka shrugged. “It’s more fun this way!” He called back, then turned to investigate. There weren’t any secret treasures in this room, just an office with a desk and a chair. Sokka walked over and began opening the drawers, bored and hoping to find some secrets.

“Ugh, just papers!” He slammed the drawer shut in frustration. A few of the papers fluttered off the desk. Sokka picked it up and flipped it over, suddenly filled with dread. It was a flyer for a chi-blocking club run by the Equalists, meeting in this building at 9pm tonight. He opened the drawers again, rummaging through the papers, which were all Equalist related, pamphlets, maps, flyers, all there. Sokka quickly ran to the third room, noticing that it was filled with training dummies that had been marked. He recognized the marks as pressure points in chi-blocking, having been chi blocked many times by Ty Lee, and due to Suki knowing the martial art as well. 

He ran back into the room, where Aang had apparently taken over his job of painting, and who definitely wasn’t doing a better job. “Guys, we need to get out of here. This is an Equalizer base!”

Aang looked up, confused, then went serious when he saw Sokka’s face. “Are you sure?”

Sokka nodded. “I’m sure. I found a bunch of Equalizer pamphlets, and there was a room full of chi-blocking dummies. I don’t know when or if they’re even coming, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Toph stood up, face uncharacteristically grim. “Then let’s go. We’ve made enough yuans to be ok for a while.”

_____ 

Once they realized Pabu was missing, they started searching the arena. Bolin was confident that someone had abducted Pabu for leverage. Mako just thought that Pabu had just slipped out of his uniform and wandered out the wide open door.

While hunting around the stadium, they wound up asking some of the guards if they had seen anything suspicious. Apparently, some kid in a yellow jacket and ridiculous pink hat snuck in earlier, and they chased him out of their training gym! If anyone had a motive to steal an adorable fire ferret, it would be a ten year old.

At that point Asami had joined, wanting to help, and they decided to split up to cover the city. How hard could it be to find a ten year old in bright clothing anyways?

Apparently very hard.

“We’ve been searching for hours,” Bolin whined. “I’m hungry, Korra. I want food!”

Korra sighed. Mako and Asami had decided to partner up together (of course), so she was with Bolin. They had each taken a guard with them, because apparently the kid and his friends were “dangerous criminals” with a history of “robbery and property damage.” Korra suspected that the kids had just knocked over a fruit stand and Lin was salty that some middle schoolers managed to escape her elite metalbending police force.

“There’s a noodle place right here. Maybe we’ll think better on a full stomach.” Korra pointed to a small noodle shop. 

The two of them walked inside, leaving the guard outside since she wanted to keep an eye out. Inside, they were overwhelmed with the delicious smells and seasonings. They quickly sat down, looking around. It was mostly empty, the only other customers being two old ladies in the back, a guy in his forties who looked like he was about to drop dead, and three teenagers standing at the counter. The oldest one looked water tribe and was passionately arguing with the deadpan cashier. The little girl with him had her arms stained pink for some reason, and the other boy had on a floppy pink hat with a bright yellow jacket. Both of them were standing behind the watertribe kid, look exasperated yet amused. Little siblings, perhaps? They didn’t look related, but maybe their parents were mixed. Who was she to judge? The water tribe teenager started to sound more upset. Intrigued, Korra tried to listen in.

“These are totally valid! What do you mean you can’t accept these?”

“Sir,” the poor cashier said, “these are just pink slips of paper. They look like a five year old drew them. Have you ever actually seen a picture of Avatar Aang?”

“E-whuh-egh-” The teen sputtered in indignation, waving his arms around.

Teenagers, Korra thought, resolutely ignoring the fact that she was also still a teenager, albeit an older one. 

Quietly laughing, Korra was about to turn back when she noticed a flash of... red? Startled, she took a closer look at the kid in the hat. There was nothing there, and she thought she must have imagined it, but then she saw it again! She subtly nudged Bolin, who had laid his head down on the table morosely. “Bolin, I think we found our thief.”

“Wha?” Bolin shot up, turning his head to look around the shop. “Where?”

“Look.” She pointed towards hat kid, and they watched as Pabu crawled out of the kids jacket and nuzzled into his neck.

Bolin stood up, determined. “Hey,” he called out. They ignored him, watertribe still arguing with the cashier, who was growing more and more annoyed.

Korra started walking towards them. “HEY!” She shouted. Watertribe and hat kid turned to look at her, then bolted out the door. How did those kids move so fast?

“Ah, great.” She muttered as she ran out after them, Bolin right on her heels.

_____

Sokka was in the middle of a very passionate argument over their form of currency, and how his Aang drawing was NOT that bad, thank you very much, when he heard the shout.

He decided to ignore it, hoping that maybe it aimed at them. When he heard a second hey, this one a lot closer and angrier, he realized that they were definitely in trouble again. He turned around to see exactly who it was and what they wanted.

The girl stomping over to them looked to be around 17ish, and was clearly water tribe. Behind her was a guy her age who looked very upset. Absently, he noticed that Pabu the stolen fire ferret was curled around Aang’s shoulders again. Deciding not to risk the temper of this clearly pissed girl (he knew enough about angry watertribe girls from his sister) he ran out of the building, Aang and Toph following behind. He heard a quiet gust of air as they ran, and suspected that a certain someone had used his bending again.

“Hey, wait, get back here!” He heard the girl shout, but he was too busy running to care. He had seen one of the metalbending guards from earlier when they ran out, and SHE had definitely recognized them. Aang’s outfit didn’t exactly help them blend in. Sokka cursed the inhabitants of this city for all wearing dull shades of grey. 

“GET BACK HERE!” Sokka heard a whooshing noise and ducked, and oh spirits that was a LARGE chunk of earth that just flew over his head, those two must be pissed-

“THIEVES! THIEVES! SOMEONE GET THEM, THEY STOLE PABU!” That was the guy shouting, and wait, that was the name of the ferret they stole, maybe they should stop for a second.

Toph stomped and the earth shook, tripping up the two. “Stop chasing us for a second!” 

The water tribe girl started to get up with a murderous look in her eyes, but the other guy, who must have been an earthbender, put out a hand to stop her, bending down to catch his breath. “You stole my ferret!” the guy said accusatively, pointing a finger at a sheepish Aang.

Aang guiltily hunched his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to steal your ferret, he just climbed into my jacket when I wasn’t looking and by the time we noticed we were super far away. Here.” He dug a squeaking Pabu out of his jacket and offered him to the earthbender. “I’m really sorry.”

The earthbender guy took Pabu out of Aang’s hands, and the ferret quickly climbed up the dude’s arm and onto his shoulders. The earthbender sniffed, teary eyed. “I’m still mad that you took him in the first place, but I’m glad you gave him back.” He suddenly grabbed Aang and pulled him into a hug. Aang, for once the uncomfortable one, patted him awkwardly on the back.

The water tribe girl spoke up. “Bolin, let go of the kid. He’s like, three, and you’re probably suffocating him.” Bolin let go of Aang, who looked relieved. The girl turned her attention back to Aang. “You look… familiar.”

Aang gulped nervously and pulled on the collar of his jacket. “Well, you look like… my girlfriend.” Behind him, Toph snorted indignantly. “Smooth, twinkletoes.” she muttered.

Thankfully, the water tribe girl just laughed. “Name’s Korra. You probably know who I am already, though. So, what did you do to get on Lin’s bad side? She’s really pissed with you apparently.”

Sokka, who had many questions, mainly concerning why they should know Korra, who this Lin person was, and what they did to get on her bad side, was about to ask when a metal cable came zooming right between them. Both groups turned to look, and dammit, it was the metalbending guard from earlier, he KNEW that would come back to bite them, and she had apparently grabbed some friends. 

“Stop! You are under arrest!” She said, and her friends decided that shooting more metal cables at them was a fantastic idea. “Do not try to resist!”

“Thanks, but no thanks!” Toph shouted, and they were launched into the air by a pillar of earth. They landed on a rooftop and started sprinting for it. The metalbenders grappled up with their cables, which was cool as shit, but also made their lives ten times harder. “Go!” He shouted, shoving Toph and Aang in front of him. He took up the rear, looking behind him every few seconds to see if they were still after them. 

Unfortunately, these guys seemed to be a lot tougher than the ones they knocked out earlier. Sokka would have thrown his boomerang, but he was currently running and it’s very difficult to aim when you’re running at top speed. He also wasn’t sure how common boomerangs were and if using one would send up any red flags.

A cable shot between him and Toph. She grabbed it and swung the poor dude into another guard, knocking both of them off of the roof. The remaining two guards turned to look as their compatriots went flying. Toph quickly bent a ramp and they slid down back into the streets. They started running again, not bothering to look back as the guards shouted angrily. 

Sokka heard another whooshing noise and ducked, pulling Aang and Toph down with him as an absolutely massive chunk of sidewalk went flying over their heads. “We need backup! We need to find the others!” Toph shouted as she pushed an earth wall back at her opponents. 

Sokka looked around, desperately searching for something they could use as a signal, or even just slow their opponents down long enough to lose them. He took a deep breath in an attempt to focus, inhaling the weirdly acidic air, and stopped. He sniffed once, then again to confirm that he wasn’t imagining the smell.

“Hey Aang?” Sokka asked, turning towards the crushed metal carriage that was oozing fuel. “I need a spark.”

_____

Unfortunately for Katara, freezing the guards in ice did not seem to make them want to attack the three of them any less. Which was why she, Suki, and Zuko were all running from five very angry guards. There were originally seven, but she had managed to freeze another one in ice, and Zuko had picked up a very large metal pot and thrown it at another guard. It shouldn’t have worked, but somehow the metalbender had gotten smacked unconscious by a metal pot to the face.

A metal cable went zooming by her head, crashing into a fruit stand and knocking over the goods. Zuko, apparently inspired, started kicking down food stalls. Dishes and food and wood and cloth went flying everywhere. It was an absolute disaster. 

Suki grabbed a half spilled rice bowl and tossed it at another guard. Katara looked around and noticed a knocked over fruit stand, goods squished into juice. Grinning, she bent the fruit juice that had soaked all over the impromptu battlefield and sent it flying straight into the guards. When they tried to get up, they found that their hands, legs, and various other limbs were frozen to the ground.

Katara pumped her fist. ‘Yes!” She looked up, noticing that there were more metalbenders on the way. “Shit.” She nodded towards Suki and Zuko, and they turned to start running again.

They had barely taken a few steps before the earth shook underneath them, almost knocking them over. A voice said, “Stop right there!” They turned to look. 

There was a woman with short grey hair, arms up in a fighting stance. Her outfit looked different than the other officers, with gold lining on the edges. The other officers all snapped to attention when they saw her.

Katara had the sinking feeling that they were in a lot of trouble.

“On orders of the Chief, you are now under arrest. Stand down, and do not try to resist.”

The three looked at each other for a second, figuring out what they should do. Then they turned back to her.

Zuko pulled out his swords. “Yeah, no thanks.” Katara internally groaned.

In response, the Chief threw a large chunk of sidewalk at them. “Shit, run!” Suki shouted, grabbing Zuko’s arm and bolting. Katara ran after, bending back fruit and soup and anything remotely liquid to try to slow her down. Unfortunately for them, she was not deterred. 

She flung another chunk of earth at them, narrowly missing. It embedded itself into the wall of a nearby building, and Zuko lept on top of it and climbed onto the roof. When Katara and Suki didn’t follow him, he turned. “What?”

Katara was unsure how to explain that they couldn’t do the weird parkour tricks that he could, and they had no idea why he decided to climb onto the roof into the first place, but before she could attempt to explain all that, a metal cable shot towards them. Suki deflected it, holding up a metal tray from a nearby stand and using it as a shield. “Just keep running!” She grunted, tossing the now dented tray to the ground.

Katara and Suki ran through the streets, keeping an eye on Zuko who was busy parkouring across the rooftops. The guards had split up, with the Chief Lady following them. Suki suddenly grabbed Katara’s arm, pulling her aside as a metal cable zoomed right where she had been.

“We need to regroup with the others,” Suki began, panicked, but stopped when she heard the massive BOOM.

Everyone, Zuko, Suki, Katara, even the metalbending guards stopped to look in the direction the explosion had come from, seeing a large cloud of smoke. In the background, she heard the Chief curse.

Katara grinned. “That’s definitely them.” She grabbed Suki’s hand, gesturing for Zuko to follow, and took off towards the explosion.

The guards followed them, partially due to the trio escaping, and partially due to the huge explosion. 

Zuko suddenly stopped, having run out of roofs to run across that head straight towards the explosion. He turned toward the girls. “I’ll catch up with you later.” Before Katara could object, he parkoured away, the drama queen.

Katara and Suki continued running, and she could start to see the effects of Sokka’s explosion. She had no idea what he did to cause this, or why he even thought it was a good idea. The ground was scorched, and it was oppressively hot. She and Suki darted into an alleyway, taking a moment to catch their breath. 

“I think we’ve lost them.” Suki huffed. It was too smoky for the guards to see them, and they were probably more concerned with dealing with the explosion then chasing down three teenagers.

“Not quite.”

_____

Katara and Suki turned around, excitement in their eyes. “Toph!”

Toph grinned in response. “Hey to you too. Where’s Sparky?”

Katara groaned in exasperation. “He parkoured away on the roofs like an idiot.” She turned to Sokka, suddenly furious. “Sokka, what the fuck?”

Sokka sheepishly shrugged. “There were a bunch of guards, and I thought hey, what’s the easiest way to make them go away and get your attention? I asked Aang for a little spark, and boom.”

Suki sighed. “That was the stupidest shit you’ve ever seen you pull, and I’ve seen you do a lot of stupid shit.”

Sokka shrugged again in lieu of a response.

Katara gave Toph a strange look. “Toph, why are your arms pink?”

Toph huffed in response. “Is now really the time for that?”

“There they are!”

Aw, shit.

“Wait, guards were chasing you too?” Sokka and Katara said to each other at the same time, pointing accusatively.

“No time for that, we gotta go!” Toph interjected. They ran out of the alleyway and into the street. 

“Which way did Zuko go?” Aang asked, worried.

Katara pointed to her right. “Follow us.” She and Suki took off in the lead, the other three close behind.

_____

Zuko had fucked up.

This wasn't unusual. He fucked up a lot, and a good chunk of it was big time. Unfortunately, this was turning out to be one of his bigger fuck-ups.

There were currently three guards chasing him across the rooftops. The buildings were slowly getting taller, which wasn't a problem for him. Unfortunately, it turns out those metal cables were great for grappling up tall buildings. He had almost gotten them wrapped around his ankle a few times too many for comfort.

Zuko stopped, trying to catch his breath. He didn't realize how high up he was until he stopped. All the other buildings were a lot shorter, and the only way back was the way he had come, which happened to be filled with metalbending guards.

Sighing, he drew his swords, preparing to fight as the first guard pulled himself up, the other three following him soon after.

“Last chance kid. Surrender now, and we don't have to hurt you.”

Zuko's response, predictably, was a blast of fire.

The first guard sighed, then they began to attack.

The first cable Zuko knocked away, and the second one he managed to dodge. The third grazed his arm, and Zuko grabbed it, superheating it with his firebending. The guard on the end of it shouted and dropped it, shaking his hand in pain. Zuko quickly turned around to the fourth guard, who had elected to throw a chunk of earth at him. He managed to deflect it with his swords, then spun around, kicking flames as he went. Two of the guards managed to dodge, but the third and fourth were hit. The closest one went down, unconscious, while his compatriot managed to avoid the worst of it. One down, three to go.

Using his swords, he sent a series of quick fire blasts at the remaining three guards. He hoped no one noticed the faint hints of green and gold and purple, which were probably a dead giveaway. The first guard ran towards him, sending rocks flying his way. Zuko rolled, then came up right in the guy’s face and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying. The guard thudded onto the ground, and he didn't get back up. 

He turned to the other two guards, one of which was injured from earlier. The other guard sent a metal cable flying towards his legs. Zuko quickly sidestepped, then kicked some flame in their general direction. He heard a shout from one of them and saw the injured one as lying on the ground. The other guy stumbled back, clearly hurt. Zuko moved in with a quick jab of his elbow, knocking the less injured guard cleanly upside the head. He went limp and fell to the ground unconscious. He smacked the more injured guard with the flat of one of his blades, leaving all of the guards incapacited. 

He took a moment to catch his breath, before turning around and seeing three more guards grapple up. He readied his swords, but four more joined them. Zuko took a step back, nervous. An eighth guard grappled up, and Zuko realized it was the woman who was presumably the chief. Uh oh. Well, if she was chasing him, that meant that Katara and Suki had managed to get away.

The chief sighed. “Stand down, kid. This isn’t a fight you're going to win.”

Zuko gulped, but readied his swords. 

The Chief glared, then shot a metal cable at him. He quickly dodged, but there were just so many of them, and he was still tired from the first four guys. He backed up, sparks flying from his fists.

There was a sloshing noise, and then one of the guards stumbled back. He saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to see Katara standing to his left. She smirked. “Thought you needed a bit of backup.”

Zuko grinned in response, then struck out with his swords. The guard deflected with a chunk of earth, then pushed it towards Zuko. He stepped to the side, then followed up with a series of quick flame kicks. Beside him, he noticed Katara smacking a guard with a water whip, and then quickly turning around and shooting an icicle at a second one approaching her from the side. Zuko heard the telltale whooshing of a metal cable zooming his way and he ducked, letting it smack another guard in the face.

They were doing pretty alright, but they were slowly wearing down. They may have been skilled, but there were only two of them and eight guards, plus more. Already, Zuko could see the guards he had taken down earlier starting to stir. If things kept going the way they were, they were going to lose this fight.

Katara seemed to realize this too, as she took a step back towards the edge of the roof and grabbed his arm. “Ok, I have a plan. Don’t freak out over it.” And with that, she flung the both of them off the building.

Zuko screamed in terror, like a logical person. Katara was unfortunately not deterred. She stuck out the arm not grabbing Zuko and pulled, face focusing in concentration. “A-HA!”

The air below them froze, and Zuko and Katara were suddenly sliding down an ice ramp. Katara grinned in success. “Yes! I wasn’t sure if that would work!”

Zuko gaped in horror. “You jumped off a building with a plan you weren’t even sure would work?”

Katara snorted, pulling up water from a fountain below them to make the ramp spiral downwards. “And how many times have you done the exact same thing? Let’s just focus on escaping those metalbenders.” 

Zuko turned, noticing the metalbenders staring at them, either in awe of in horror. The Chief shot out a metal cable, and started grappling towards them. Zuko punched a bolt of flame at her, then turned back to Katara. “Let’s hurry.”

_____

Sokka and Suki were running through the streets, desperately searching the rooftops for any red or blue. Behind them, Aang and Toph were attempting to slow down the guards. Toph had decided the best way to do this was to grab one of those metal carriages and toss it towards the guards.

“That was my car!” A distraught man shouted. Cars, Sokka mentally noted. That’s what those are called. 

“Over there!” Aang shouted, pointing towards a tall building. In the distance, Katara was forming a ramp using the water in the air and water from a nearby fountain, Zuko clinging to her arm in terror. Behind them, a lady with gold edged armor was grappling towards them. Zuko punched a flame at her, but was clearly more concerned with not falling off their deadly slip n’ slide.

“Here! Over here!’ Sokka shouted, waving his arms, getting Zuko and Katara’s attention. Unfortunately, it also caught the attention of the guards behind them, the gold armour lady, and oh boy that was a lot of guards on that roof, holy fuck?

Katara bent their fun ice slide towards the four of them, and she and Zuko landed and immediately started sprinting. “That’s the Chief, RUN!” Katara shouted as they ran. The rest of the Gaang started sprinting after her, terrified. 

Sokka glanced behind him, and immediately regretted it. There were currently about 15 or so guards chasing them, with the Chief in the lead. Pedestrians were screaming, cars were being crushed, food stalls were being trampled. It was a complete and utter nightmare. A massive chunk of sidewalk sailed over Sokka’s head. “We’re gonna die, aren’t we?” He said as he ducked.

Toph stopped and turned around, an absolutely terrifying and manic grin on her face. “Nope, we aren’t doing that until later.” She stomped, the earth rumbling under her command. The Gaang could only watch in awe.

An absolutely massive wave of earth rippled out from under Tophs feet, pushing forward straight into the metalbenders. The earth shook under them, all the guards falling over in response. The Chief was the only one who remained standing, and even then just barely. Car alarms started beeping, and dust rose into the air. It was carnage.

The gaang ran away, not wanting to wait around for the guards to recover.

“So, anyone still wanna go to the museum after this?”

_____

Korra and Bolin ran towards the commotion, trying to see if they could help. Was it Equalizers? The Triple Triads? Something else that was super strong and needed the Avatars help to fix?

They arrived, looking at the absolute disaster of the street. Car alarms were beeping, food stalls were toppled, there was a half melted ice ramp suspended in midair, and the sidewalk looked like it had been caught in the middle of an earthquake. All the guards were collapsed on the ground. Some were sitting up, groaning, but others were unconscious. She noticed several of them had burn marks, and a few were soaking wet. In the middle of this chaos, Lin stood up, groaning in pain.

Korra ran over, Bolin following behind. “What happened? This looks like a nightmare.”

Lin pointed towards a spot that seemed to be the epicenter of the earthquake in lieu of a response. It was the only part of the street that hadn’t been torn up. “Those kids who stole your ferret? This is what they did. All of this,” she gestured to the exhausted and beat up guards, “was done by six teenagers. Two of them didn’t even look like teens!” She turned back to Korra and glared. “Still think they aren’t dangerous?”

Korra quietly surveyed the damage. Those three kids from earlier, they and three others did all this? It seemed impossible to believe.

Boin held up a squeaking Pabu. “We got Pabu back at least!”

Lin only sighed in response. “Well, I’m glad something went well today.” She marched over to her guards. “Alright, let's get moving!"

Bolin tugged Korra’s arm. “C’mon Korra, lets go.” She let herself be dragged away, still lost in thought.

These kids were much more dangerous then she’d thought. But she just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were familiar somehow. Especially the kid in the floppy hat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> missing scene:  
> tour guide: and here is a photo of fire lord zuko with his pet dragon, druk  
> zuko: what the fuck, I want a dragon  
> katara: zuko, that's literally your dragon.  
> zuko: but I want a dragon nowwww, I bet my advisors would take me seriously with a dragon :(
> 
> aang: why do I have a struggle beard, it's so ugly  
> sokka: *sympathetic pat*
> 
> also aang!! is not as babey as he seems!! u cannot tell me that monkeyfeathers wasn't nickelodeons way of censoring "motherfucker" I'm sorry
> 
> writing action sucks and I loathe it so much but here u go, next we have the gaang learns to drive a car with no experience and also not knowing what cars are
> 
> also turns out ignoring ur missing assignments backfires horribly so yikes, but have a nice day y'all go eat something if u haven't in a while


	4. The Drivers Ed Manual for when you don't know what cars are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya! I managed to finish all my missing assignments, but then I had like 20 tests in two weeks so I haven't had much free time to write. Finally, we have the interaction you've all been waiting for, sort of. Enjoy!

The Gaang had run off, and eventually wound up at a random noodle place. Zuko said that someone had recommended it to him, but when he was asked who he only blushed and refused to elaborate while Katara and Suki giggled.

While they waited for their food, Sokka looked around to make sure there weren't any guards before leaning in. “Ok, I think the coast is clear.”

Katara sighed in relief before leaning back in her chair. ¨First we’re criminals in the Fire Nation, now we're criminals in…” She trailed off, realizing that none of them actually knew the name of the city they were in. “Uh, this city?” She looked around, hoping one of them could help her out.

Sokka shrugged. “The name isn’t important. When we were out, I found this.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and slammed it onto the table. A closer look revealed it to be an advertisement for chi-blocking, run by the Equalists. “I know what we’re doing tonight.”

“Food’s ready!” An elderly lady chirped, arms full of noodles as she walked towards their table. Sokka eeped and quickly hid the paper in his jacket.

She placed down the noodles on the table. Sokka started to dig around in his pockets. “We have money! We can pay you!” He dug out a pink slip of paper. “Aha!” 

Zuko took it out of his hands and looked at it. “Sokka, what the fuck is this.” He paused, and moved it closer to his good eye. “Is… that supposed to be Aang?”

Suki and Aang started giggling hysterically as Katara snatched the paper out of Zuko's hand. “Did...did you try to just fake money?”

Sokka sputtered in protest. “It was Toph’s idea!”

Katara turned to glare at Toph, who was grinning. Aang had lost all control and was laughing so hard that tears were forming in his eyes. Zuko was poorly attempting to muffle his giggles, and Suki was laughing like a madman. Toph only shrugged in response, biting her lip to suppress laughter. “It's not my fault that currency in the future is made of paper!”

Katara buried her face in her hands as she attempted not to laugh along with the rest of the gaang. “I'm so sorry, we actually do have money.” She said in the direction of the lady, who was standing there and watching with one eyebrow raised. 

Aang looked at the piece of paper again that they had tried to pass off as a yuan, and immediately started laughing again. “I'm sorry Sokka, it's just so  _ bad _ ”, he managed to say, tears streaming down his face.

Suki wiped away the tears starting to form in her eyes and stuck her hand in a still laughing Zuko's pocket. She pulled out a handful of yuans (Were the yuans the paper or the coins, or both? she wondered) and gave it to the poor noodle lady. “Here you go ma'am, that should hopefully be enough.”

The noodle lady only smiled in return. “Oh honey, you're fine.” She said, clearly bemused, and left them to their meals.

Sokka immediately began slurping his noodles. “I can't believe this is the first thing we've actually paid for. How did you get all that money anyways?”

Zuko shrugged, mouth half full. “Oh, I just stole it from some obnoxious rich dude harassing a cashier. I've been in customer service before, so I know what it's like to get yelled at by some entitled asshole. That's the whole reason those guards started to chase us earlier.”

“Nice.” Suki replied, content to leave it at that.

Sokka leaned towards Zuko. “Wait, you worked in customer service? Explain.”

Zuko shrugged again. “When me and my uncle were refugees in Ba Sing Se we had to get jobs, and we wound up working in a tea shop. The manager was a dick, and Agni, there were so many rude customers. Uncle managed to get his own tea shop eventually, but before we got a chance to open it Azula happened."

Katara snapped her fingers in realization. “That's why you were in Ba Sing Se! I just assumed it was another one of your nefarious plots.”

Zuko took another bite of noodles. “That’s a fair assumption to make. I can’t blame you for that.”

Sokka finished slurping up his noodles and placed his empty bowl on the table with a clatter. “Once we finish, let's head back to Appa. Then tonight, we go after those equalists.”

_____

It was a dark and quiet night in Republic City. Inside a warehouse, the only sounds were the thuds of chi-blocking being practiced on dummies, and the grunts of affirmation from the two trainers. All was peaceful. Then, the wall was kicked in.

The chi blockers screamed in terror as six teenagers crashed through the hole in the wall, attacking them with swords and bending, and generally causing a lot of chaos. Within minutes, many of the chi blockers had been either trapped in earth, frozen in water, or knocked out and pinned down somehow.

"Wait, where's the two leaders?" Sokka asked as he somehow strung up two chi blockers from the rafters using a random chain.

“Over there!” Zuko shouted, pointing towards two figures making an escape. In response, one of them picked up a training dummy and hurled it towards Zuko, who dodged it and punched a bolt of flame towards them.

The gaang sprinted outside, and Toph bent a chunk of earth at them. Unfortunately, they dodged, then climbed one of those odd metal carriages and began speeding away.

“Fuck!” Toph cursed. 

Sokka quickly ran over to another metal carriage and climbed into the front seat.“If we use one of these cars, we can catch up with them!” 

The rest of the gaang piled in, with Suki in the front and the other four in the back. “Sokka, are you sure you know what you're doing?”

Sokka grinned. “I've steered a war balloon before, how hard can a ‘car’ be?”

_____

Sokka screamed in terror as they drove over yet another curb, the car violently shuddering and bumping the other passengers into each other. “THIS IS JUST LIKE STEERING A WAR BALLOON, BUT TEN TIMES WORSE!”

“I can drive if you want.” Toph offered, grinning.

“NO!” Everyone shouted simultaneously.

Suki pointed ahead. “There they are!”

Indeed, the ‘car’ from earlier was in front of them. Unfortunately, the Gaang hadn't thought ahead to how they would stop them. They weren't even sure how to stop their own car, much less another person's.

Aang bent up a piece of sidewalk and chucked it towards the car in front. All this did was cause the two Equalists to curse wildly and drive faster.

Katara bent some water out of her pouch, ready to bend it towards them, when she stopped. “Do you guys hear that?”

The gaang stopped to listen. There was an odd noise, a “wee-woo” sound that was getting closer and closer. They looked behind them to see the source of the noise was a car with flashing red and blue lights driving straight towards them. And the driver was none other than the Chief.

“What? What are you all looking at?” Toph asked impatiently. “Some of us are blind here!”

Aang nervously gulped. “It's the police Chief, and she's driving right towards us.”

The events that followed would be remembered by Republic City for years to come. 

The Chief sent a metal cable flying towards their car. Katara screamed “Left, LEFT!”

Sokka veered right. “YOUR OTHER LEFT!”

The metal cable had crashed straight through the front window. Aang shrieked in fear as it zipped a few inches in front of his face. Toph reached out and tore through the cable, disconnecting it from the part the Chief was holding. She crumpled up the piece of metal that remained, and threw it forward in the general direction of the other car.

Unfortunately Toph's aim was a bit off, so the metal lump smacked the backside of the car. The two men cursed again, and then suddenly turned right.

“RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT!” Suki screamed, desperately wishing for something to grab onto, or even something to keep her in her seat. Maybe some sort of belt, that would strap her in. Alas, there was no such thing.

Sokka jerked the wheel , sending the car spinning sharply right. Sokka however, had never driven a car before, and didn't quite know how much force to put on the steering wheel. The gaang screamed in terror as they drove straight towards a building.

Katara quickly bent some water from a nearby fountain (and seriously, why were there so many fountains in this city?) and froze it, making a semi-wall that Sokka could drive on, guiding him back onto the main road. Zuko cursed wildly, having lived with sailors for three years and therefore not caring about censoring himself.

“Spirits Zuko, watch the language! There's kids here!” Sokka said disapprovingly.

“I'll stop swearing when you stop trying to fucking kill us with your shitty ass steering!!” Zuko shrieked back in terror and rage.

“Guys, the Chief is still after us!” Aang called out nervously.

Zuko turned backwards and breathed out an impressive amount of flame in the Chiefs general direction. The Chief's response to that was to swear loudly enough for all of them to hear. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” Katara muttered under her breath, looking between the car they were chasing and the car chasing them. “Which car do we go for?” 

Toph grinned.”Both!”

“Toph, we can’t do both.” Katara sighed, shooting an icicle at the Chief’s car.

“Maybe we can.” Aang responded. He bent up a chunk of sidewalk and hurled it towards the Equalists. This time, his aim was true. It smashed into the middle of their car, and the Equalists started swearing violenlty. The car suddenly swerved left, facing sideways in the middle of the road.

“STOP SOKKA, STOP!” Katara screamed, but it was too late. Sokka was going too fast, and none of them actually knew how to stop the car. In a last ditch attempt, Sokka tried turning onto the sidewalk, and the car crashed straight into both the first car and a lamppost.

  
  


Somehow, Katara hadn’t passed out. She quickly started healing everyone, mostly focused on waking them all up. She could hear the police sirens slowly growing closer, and she wanted to be out of here before they caught up.

Slowly, the rest of the gaang woke up. Sokka groaned, clutching his head. “What happened?”

Katara glared at him. “We almost died because of your shitty steering!”

Sokka opened his mouth to protest. “I’d like to see you do better!”

“Guys, hate to break up your argument, but we should get out of here before-“ Suki was cut off by a metal cable wrapping around her wrist.

The gaang turned to see that they were completely surrounded by metalbenders, the Chief in the front. “You are under arrest. Do not try to resist.”

Zuko held up his fists, ready to fight, but Toph held up a hand. “Let them arrest us. We’re in no shape to be fighting anyone, much less a whole group of metalbending officers. And they arrested the other guys too.” She pointed to where the two guys they were chasing were being loaded into the back of a police car.

Zuko sighed, then put his hands down. The rest of the gaang put their hands up in surrender, ready to be arrested.

_____

In the middle of the night, six teenagers sat in an interrogation room in front of the Chief of police. All six had been handcuffed to the giant desk. They had been stripped of their belongings, but Aang thankfully still had his hat and jacket. 

The Chief sat down, rubbing her temples in exhaustion. “Do you six kids know exactly what kind of trouble you’ve gotten yourselves into?”

There was a beat of silence. “A lot?” offered Katara.

The Chief slammed her hands down on the table, and Zuko and Toph flinched. “A lot doesn’t even begin to cover it!” she shouted. She began counting on her fingers. “You six are being arrested for destruction of public and private property, robbery, burglary, arson, being a public nuisance, aggravated assault-”

Toph let out a low whistle at that.

“-counterfeiting money-”

“It's not our fault your money is made of paper!” Sokka shrieked.

“-trespassing, disorderly conduct, juvenile delinquency, several motor vehicle offenses, attempted vehicular manslaughter-”

“Hey now, we weren't actually trying to  _ kill _ anyone-”

“-illegally hunting wildlife, conspiracy with terrorists-”

There were several cries of protests. “We were  _ against _ the Equalists, not working with them!”

“-bribery-”

“Giving a police officer a sandwich in exchange for him leaving us alone is  _ not _ bribery-”

“-shoplifting, carrying swords without a permit-”

“That's a dumb rule.” Zuko muttered.

“-animal abduction-”

“I didn't  _ mean _ to steal Pabu, it was an accident!”

“-altering the weather without a permit-”

“I just made it stop raining so my dress wouldn't get wet!”

“-attempted  _ murder- _ ”

“Hey, that's not nice!” Toph cried.

“-child endangerment-”

“Wait, who are the children we endangered?” Sokka asked under his breath.

“I think she means the two twelve year olds.” Suki whispered.

“-hooliganism, and drunk driving!”

“Hey, we weren't driving drunk!” Sokka cried out indignantly.

“You were driving so badly that you might as well have been.” The Chief retorted flatly.

“Hey, is being gay illegal? Because if it is, I want that on my rap list.” Zuko asked.

The Chief sighed and punched the bridge of her nose. “Wha- no, being gay isn't illegal. You're fine for that.”

“Aww.” 

“Dude, you shouldn't be sad about that.” Sokka said, mildly concerned.

“I can live my life however I want, don't question my decisions.”

“You make terrible decisions and they should be questioned-”

“Oh!” The Chief started. “I would also love to know why  _ you _ happened to have the royal headpiece for the Firelord  _ inside your vest! _ ” She pointed at Zuko, who suddenly looked like he would rather not be there.

Zuko was trying to figure out something to say that wasn’t “Well you see, I’m actually the Firelord, we’ve just traveled 70 years into the future,” when Toph started laughing.

“You gotta be kidding me. You thought that was the actual headpiece? It’s clearly a fake. Sparky here was just dressing up, and I wanted an excuse to practice metalbending.” Toph leaned intowards the Chief. “He’s a huge fan of Firelord Zuko.” she whispered secretively. She sat back, smirking, while Zuko glared. If looks could kill, Toph would be deader than Zhao.

Lin just glared at them. “You know what, I don’t even care. First thing’s first, what are your names?”

Aang leaned forward eagerly. “Oh, well I’m, uh, Iroh!” Zuko snorted behind him.

“And I’m Nuktuk Icicle, nice to meet ya!” Sokka blurted out, looking unbearably smug.

Katara smiled politely. “That’s my brother. I’m Ayuki Icicle,” she replied, not missing a beat.

The Chief turned to Zuko. “And what about you,  _ Sparky _ ?”

Zuko huffed. “I’m Li.”

There was silence. “I work at a tea shop.”

Suki awkwardly grinned. “Well I’m Jin, and this is my little sister Miyuki.” Toph made an odd half choking noise in response to that, although it was unclear if that was in response to the name or the sister part.

The Chief looked at them hard, then sighed. “All of you are lying, in what was some of the most horrendous lying I have ever witnessed.”

The gaang immediately began protesting, and the Chief sighed again. 

“Hey wait, how did you even know we were lying in the first place?” Suki asked. “I know their lying is shit, but how?”

“Yeah,” Toph leaned in curiously. “The only person I know of who could tell who was lying or not was Toph Beifong. And you’re a metalbender.” Toph gasped, something occurring to her. “You were one of her students, weren’t you! What’s your name, tell us!”

“Yeah, tell us!” Sokka chimed in.

The gaang began chanting. “Tell us, tell us, tell us!”

The Chief sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m honestly more surprised that you  _ don’t _ know. But it’s Beifong, Lin Beifong, Chief of Police.”

There was silence. Then, the Gaang exploded.

“I’m sorry, you’re Toph’s DAUGHTER?” Katara screeched.

Toph leaned forward. “Toph Beifong had  _ kids _ ?? Who's the dad? Oh, I bet it was-“ She was cut off by Suki elbowing her in the ribs, hard. Suki just grinned apologetically, hissing whispers at Toph to cut that out right now before she got them all killed. 

“So you’re the Lin that that Korra girl said we pissed off.” Sokka mused.

Aang bounced in his seat. “I’m more focused on the fact that Toph Beifong, the BLIND BANDIT, had a daughter who became the head of police.”

“You know that Toph Beifong was the first Chief of Police? And that she founded the metalbending police in the first place?” Lin said tiredly.

“I’m sorry, WHAT?” Toph screamed, and the Gaang was shouting again.

“What the fuck, how did that happen?” Zuko asked, confused.

Katara was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. “Oh, the irony!”

“If you don’t die a hero, you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Aang solemnly lamented.

“Pretty sure it should be the other way around buddy.” Sokka commented, shoulders shaking in laugher.

Suki was stifling her giggles in the corner, a tear running down her cheek as she sympathetically patted Toph on the back. 

“Alright, that's enough out of you kids!” Lin shouted, effectively silencing them. She stood up, clearly frustrated. “Listen, my job is to make sure Republic City is safe, for  _ everyone _ . And when six random kids with incredible bending abilities show up out of nowhere, it raises a lot of questions.”

“Oh no,” said Toph, horror slowly dawning in her voice.

Lin sighed, before sitting back down. “I’m going to ask you, what caused you to do all this?” She hesitated, then grimaced. “Is there… something going on at home?”

Toph slammed her head onto the table, looking absolutely miserable. Zuko looked like he was trying not to scream. Sokka snorted, and Katara attempted to cover her mouth before realizing her hands were still cuffed to the table. Suki shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and Aang looked as if he would rather fly out the nearest window.

Lin grimaced again. “Now, I know this is  _ awkward _ , but six teenagers who are talented enough to rival most grown benders just roaming the streets and committing crime? It sounds like there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes.” She paused, looking like she also didn’t want to be having this conversation. “That massive burn scar on your face is what seriously concerns me.” she said, zeroing in on Zuko, who looked supremly uncomfortable.

He glared at her in response. “The scar on my face is none of your fucking buisness, as a matter of fact.” In the background, Katara choked on her laughter while Suki snorted.

Aang grinned. “Well, I don't have parents!” He said, way too cheerfully.

No one knew how to respond to that.

“I feel like you shouldn't be so happy about that?” Suki tried.

Katara gave Lin her sweetest grin. “Well, we’re just visiting. We aren’t from around here, you see, and we wanted to see the sights.”

Lin leaned back in her chair, a look of realization on her face. She muttered something about “stupid fucking rural kids” and a few other things that a grown woman probably shouldn’t have been saying around six impressionable teenagers. She leaned forward again, staring intently at them. “That definitely isn’t the full story here. Even if you are just tourists,” she said in a skeptical tone, “You’re still making a wreck of the city. What do you kids plan on doing about that? That also doesn’t explain how six  _ children _ are at the same level of elite bending masters.”

The six of them looked nervously at each other. Sokka gulped, then turned to face her with an anxious grin. “Well, you see, you actually can’t hold us responsible for all of our ‘crimes’” At this, he made mock quotes with his cuffed hands.

Lin glared at him and Sokka shrunk in response. “Oh? And why is that?” She leaned forward, a smirk playing on the corners of her mouth. “Tell me why I shouldn’t hold you responsible for all your crimes. One, single, good reason.”

“Because…” Sokka started, then trailed off, desperately trying to think of something that didn’t involve time travel and being trained for war from a young age.

“Because…” Zuko echoed, looking nervous. “Because… we don’t actually exist.”

There was a moment of silence. Lin blinked, expression replaced with one of utter befuddlement. “I’m sorry, what?”

Toph grinned, hopping on the bandwagon and ready to cause chaos. “Yep! We don’t actually exist. We aren’t real!”

Lin spluttered, having lost control of the conversation. “That’s clearly a lie, you’re  _ right here in front of me- _ “

But there was no stopping the Gaang once they had gotten started. Sokka smirked. “Sorry, but it’s the truth. We actually aren’t real.”

“Our actions have little impact on the world, and in a few days we will disappear, and you will forget all about us.” Aang said solemnly, channeling his inner Uncle Iroh.

Lin turned to Katara and Suki, the only sane members of the group. But Katara only shrugged in return. “I know, it’s crazy to think about. But we really just don’t exist. All of the damage we’ve done will be forgotten about!” 

Suki only gave her a sad smile. “The effects of our actions will soon fade away, and we will too. I’m sorry you had to hear it like this. This isn’t how we wanted to tell you.”

Toph nodded in response. “It really is a terrible way to find out.” She had somehow managed to contort herself so her legs were in Suki’s lap and her feet were touching the ground, all while still being handcuffed. 

Lin threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “What the fuck!” She cried, putting her head in her hands. “It’s 12am and I have to deal with a bunch of teenagers trying to be philosophical at me!” The Gaang only giggled in response.

“You,” Lin sat up, pointing a finger at Zuko, who at this point looked tired of being pointed at. “You’re the leader of this little group-“ She was cut off by hysterical laughter from the rest of the Gaang.

“He’s, the leader!” Aang gasped out, tears running down his face. He doubled over laughing again.

Katara sniffed, seemingly regaining her composure, before looking at their resident firebender and laughing again. “Look at our mighty leader, protecting us all,” she cried, gesturing towards Zuko.

Zuko, on the other hand, looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel, although if it was from anger or laughter it was hard to tell. His face had the look of someone who was trying to remain serious, but was rapidly failing as he tried not to laugh. 

Sokka giggled. “If anything, we’re more like a democracy.”

“A democracy?” Lin asked incredulously, and the Gaang started laughing again. Lin just crossed her arms and waited for them to calm down, since it was slowly getting late (well, later then it already was) and she just wanted to go home and rest after this.

They eventually managed to calm down, although they still broke out into various giggles. Lin sighed, and wished that she had decided to interrogate each of them separately. She had hoped that the six of them together would make interrogating them go faster, but it seemed to be quickly proving to be the opposite. She sighed again, then looked at the six kids in front of her, who had mostly regained their composure. Something about them was nagging her, something in the back of her mind.

Lin stared at each of them, a frown slowly settling over her face. “The six of you, you all seem,  _ familiar _ …”

Aang gulped nervously. “It’s the nose?”

“Maybe it’s because you’ve been chasing us for two days.” Sokka helpfully interjected.

Lin frowned even more. “No, it’s not that.” There was something important here, something she was missing.

Toph leaned back, folding her uncuffed hands behind her head. “Well, this has been fun, but we should probably go. Bye!” She stomped her foot, releasing everyone’ s cuffs and opening up the floor beneath them. They landed on the floor below, and the six of them jumped out of the massive window that was conveniently right next to them.

All of this had happened in the span of five seconds, Lin not even having enough time to get out of her seat. She sighed again and rubbed her temples as the alarm sounded in the distance, and wondered why in the world they had thought it was a good idea to put the metalbender in a metal interrogation room.

_____

The six ran for a while, only stopping when they felt they were a good distance away. In the distance, they could hear faint sirens and shouts. They ducked into an alley, watching as several police cars sped past them.

Toph slumped against the wall, trying to catch her breath, before turning to Zuko and punching his shoulder. “What the fuck was that? We don’t exist? It was funny as shit, but that was really the best you could come up with?”

Zuko threw up his hands. “I didn’t have time to think! I was under pressure!”

“Aren’t you a leader of an entire nation?” Katara questioned. Zuko ignored this. 

Sokka giggled. “I can’t believe that Toph is a fucking  _ cop _ .”

At this, Toph scowled. “Why am I a cop in the future? That’s such bullshit! If anything, I thought I would be a professional scam artist.”

“If you want, you could be my scribe,” Zuko offered.

Toph snorted. “I’d love to. Your advisors would flip their shit.”

Zuko grinned, but his face fell. “My headpiece! It’s still in the building!”   
  


The rest of the Gaang let out similar cries of dismay as they realized that all of their things that had been taken when they were arrested were still inside.

They did a quick count, and realized that Sokka’s space sword and boomerang, Zuko’s headpiece,swords, and dagger, Aang’s staff, and Katara's water flask had all been confiscated.

Katara smacked her fist into her palm, determined. “We need to get those back as soon as we can. Toph’s excuse about the fire nation headpiece won’t last forever, and if they decide to actually take a look at our stuff, then it’s going to raise a lot of unwanted questions.”

The others winced at the thought of having to explain themselves. “So we just bust in and take back our shit?” Toph asked.

Sokka shook his head. “Although we could probably take them, it’s not a good idea to. We really shouldn’t be causing so much damage.” At this, the others looked sheepish. “Besides, now that we’ve broken out, they’ll be on much higher guard. Also, these guys are pretty elite metalbenders, and although we’re also pretty good, they definitely outnumber us. The safest option is to sneak in and out.”

Suki nodded. “That’s a good idea. If we’re going stealth, we should only take a few of us.”

Zuko immediately raised his hands. “I’ll do it. I can go in by myself; I’m pretty good at being stealthy.”

“Absolutely not you self sacrificing idiot, do you want to get killed?” Katara interjected furiously.

“Actually, Zuko can be pretty stealthy when he wants to be. He’s like a ninja!” Aang piped in.

Sokka looked at Zuko skeptically, but sighed. “Fine. Ok. Zuko’s on the mission. Who else?” He paused for a moment. “Actually, wait. Aang is out, since his staff is missing, and his arrows are being covered in a very unstealthy way.” Aang pouted at this. “Toph is out, since she isn’t very stealthy either…but then again she’s the only metalbender and would probably be helpful in a metalbender base..” He continued mumbling incoherently while the Gaang watched.

“So…” Suki said. “Any other ideas?”

_____

The six of them eventually wound up all going in together, because they were all ride together or die together idiots with no common sense between the six of them.

“First obstacle,” Sokka said, hands on his hips as they stared at the building. “Getting inside.”

Toph smirked. “I got this.” She stomped her foot and a chunk of the wall silently slid aside. 

“Huh.” Sokka stared at Toph. “I didn’t think you could be so quiet.”

Toph only grinned in reply.

Thankfully, there weren’t any metalbenders near the chunk of wall Toph had removed. She bent it back as they went in so no one would notice. “Now which way?” Katara whispered.

Sokka slapped his forehead as he realized that none of them had even remotely thought this through. They hadn’t even attempted to map out the place! He pointed down a random hallway. “That way.” He started walking, and the rest of the gaang followed.

They walked for a while until they found a series of doors. “No one’s here.” Toph said. “I’ll be lookout, and tell you if I sense someone coming. You guys check out those rooms.”

“It’s odd that no one’s here.” Katara noted.

Suki’s eyes went wide. “Of course! Most of them are probably out there, searching for us while we sneak in under their noses.”

“Then we should hurry before they come back. We don’t know how much time we have, and the sooner we get out of here, the better.” Sokka said grimly.

They nodded, splitting up and searching the rooms.

To their dismay, most of them seemed to be offices, filled with paperwork. Normally this would have been helpful, but given the circumstances it was just annoying. One of the rooms was an interrogation room similar to the one they were in earlier, and another one was a locker room. It wasn’t very useful, but there were various personal belongings strewn all over, such as a knife, a photo of two men kissing at a wedding that had fallen to the floor, a cheesy romance novel with a mysterious stain on the cover, a pile of sweaty clothes (gross!), a pocket watch, a fountain pen, and some guard uniforms that were a bit dented, which Toph straightened out.

Unfortunately, there were six of them, and only three uniforms.

Once again, Zuko volunteered. Technically, he anti-volunteered, but he still spoke up first to endanger himself.

“I don’t need a uniform. They’ll probably be able to recognize me with my big fuck-off scar anyways, and I’m stealthy enough that I can just hide and follow you.”

Suki also didn’t volunteer. “I can be pretty quiet too. Not as quiet as Mr Fire Lord over here,” nudging him, “but pretty stealthy. I’m also a good fighter, so I can handle myself.”

Sokka shrugged. “Ok then. Me and Katara can pose as metal bending guards.” He turned to Aang and Toph. “Neither of you guys can fit into this armor. I guess we can give it to Suki-“

“Wait!” Aang cried. “I have the perfect idea!”

_____

Three metalbending guards walked out of a locker room. At a first glance, they appeared… almost normal.

The first two were clearly water tribe, and also clearly teenagers. The third officer was wearing a ridiculously floppy pink hat, and looked no older than fourteen, probably younger. If you listened closely, you could hear two sets of muffled giggles coming from the “officer”.

“For the record, I still think this is a stupid plan.” Sokka said, holding onto Aang’s yellow jacket. Thankfully, the uniform covered his arms, so his arrows weren’t peeking out.

From somewhere behind them, Zuko snorted. He was surprisingly good at disappearing, for someone whose main personality trait used to be shouting. “There’s no way this could go wrong.”

“Of course, of course,” Katara assured them. “How could this plan possibly fail?” She failed to hide the smug grin on her face.

“Guys, there’s a guard up ahead.” Toph interrupted from inside the metalbending gear.

They quieted down, trying to be serious as they approached a lone guard who was standing against the wall, eating a dumpling. Sokka walked over to him. “Hey! So you know those kids who busted out earlier?”

The officer raised an eyebrow, unamused. “What about them?”

Sokka proudly held up the jacket. “I found one of the kids’ jackets!” He paused, looking nervous. “I just, uh, don’t know where to put it. I know it should go with all the other stuff we confiscated, but I don't know where…?” He trailed off hopefully, looking at the officer with pleading eyes.

The officer sighed, downed his dumpling in one bite, and pushed himself off the wall. “Newbies. Just follow me.”

He turned and strode down the hall, gesturing for them to follow.

“Holy shit, I can’t believe that worked,” Toph whispered.

They continued walking, the five of them (and their two shadows) walking in awkward silence. “So,” the guard said casually. “You look a bit young to be joining the metalbending police force. You don’t even look like an earth bender, but hey, it’s not my place to judge.”

“Oh?” Sokka asked, gulping nervously.

“I mean, mixed kids are pretty common here in Republic City. But you really look water tribe. You sure you aren’t a waterbender?” His tone turned jokingly playful, but there was an undertone of steel.

“M-me? A waterbender? Ha, nope! That would be my sister.” Sokka stammered out.

“I thought your sister was an earthbender. Not trying to assume here, but you two look pretty similar, and you’d both have to be metalbenders to join.” The guard replied lightly, nodding towards Katara.

Sokka gave a weak grin. “Ah, that would be my other sister. I have two.”

“Hm.” The guard responded, and they fell into a heavy silence.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a door. “Well, here’s your stop. Say, what did you say your names were again?”

Sokka paused. “We never said.”

The guard stared at them. “Hm. You know, you guys have a pretty strong resemblance to those six teenagers. Of course, it’s just the three of you, but I’m sure the other three are around here somewhere.” And with that, he shifted into a fighting stance. 

But before he could do anything, there was a blur of red and suddenly there was a knife at the guards throat. “Don’t move a muscle.” Zuko said from behind him, tone dark. The guard froze. “And before you even think about bending this blade, I’ll bet my knife is a lot faster than your bending,” he said, moving the knife closer to the man’s throat. With that, the guard slowly lowered his hands, which had been reaching towards his neck.

Sokka was actually a little bit scared. He’d never really seen Zuko like this before. Then, he noticed Zuko attempting to wink with his scarred eye, which didn’t work for obvious reasons. Realizing this, he winked with his good eye. From the subtle shift in the other’s postures, he knew that they had all seen it too. Zuko may have been a notoriously bad liar, but apparently he was a surprisingly decent actor.

“So,” Sokka asked, cockily leaning against the wall. “Is this actually where all our stuff is?”

The guard nodded frantically. “He’s telling the truth.” Toph's voice was muffled under the armor, and the confused guard did a double take.

Sokka stepped forward and opened the door, everyone else falling in line. Inside, there was one other guard who was sorting paperwork. On the desk in front of her, there were several boxes filled with various objects, and one of the boxes was filled with their things! “Oh hey Naoki! What’s up-“ The guard cut herself off, looking up and realizing that instead of her fellow guard, she was faced with four teenagers and her fellow guard being threatened.

“Hand over that box and no one gets hurt.” Katara commanded, pointing towards the box with all of their things. The first officer visibly swallowed. Slowly, the second officer picked up the box and held it out to Aang, who gladly snatched it out of her hands.

“Thank you!” He chirped, still disgustingly polite even when they were holding a man hostage.

“Oh, no need to thank me.” The officer replied, her tone customer service polite. Suddenly she shot a metal cable, knocking the knife out of Zuko’s hand.

“FFFFFF-“ Zuko cut himself off, remembering that he should probably be responsible and not swear like a sailor in front of the others, three of which were under sixteen. Of course, they had all heard plenty of swears since their time travel shenanigans had started, but it was nice to see Zuko trying to be a good influence. “-FFFffffire flakes.” He finished with a weak grin, still clutching his hand because a metal cable flying into your wrist at high speeds hurt, ok?

Meanwhile, Aang was clutching the box with one arm and his hat with the other as he tried to stay balanced sitting on Toph’s shoulders, who was currently battling against the first guard. He grabbed a basket of paperwork and flung it at Aang's face. Toph, in response, bent off her and Aang’s chestplate, revealing the stacked children, and used it as a shield to deflect the paper and the basket. She then crumpled it into a ball and hurled it at the guard, which smacked him in the stomach and knocked him into a wall. “Yes!” Toph fistpumped while Aang leapt off her shoulders, clutching the box like his life depended on it.

Meanwhile, Katara and Suki were busy battling the second guard. She was holding up fairly well against Suki while Katara simply threw random objects at her, having no water to bend. “Catch!” She heard Aang shout, and turned to grab her water flask. She put it on, smirking, then water whipped the guard in the back of the head. The guard, not expecting a surprise attack, turned around to face Katara, then crumpled as Suki chi blocked her from behind. The two girls high fived, then turned to the others.

Zuko and Sokka dug through the box, pulling out their respective weapons. Zuko tucked the fire lord headpiece safely back into his vest pocket. “We should get out of here. Someone is going to check on those two eventually.” Aang shrugged his jacket back on, and Sokka and Katara quickly shed their uniforms, running out the door.

“Uh, does anyone know which way we came from?” Sokka asked as they sprinted down the hallway.

“Just follow me!” Toph took the lead. “I can feel the others coming back, and there’s a lot of them!” She took them down a series of hallways, random twists and turns the others never would have been able to navigate by themselves. A few times they caught a glimpse of another officer as they ran by, but they were always far enough away from the officers to not be seen. 

Eventually, they stopped at a blank wall. This time, Toph kicked down the wall, not bothering with subtlety. It opened to reveal the cool morning air, the sun barely over the horizon.

“It’s morning?” Sokka complained. “We’ve been up all night! My sleep schedule is ruined!”

“Can it Snoozles, we need to go.” Toph retorted, pointing to the cars pulling up to the building. Maybe they hadn’t seen them- oh wait they were definitely shouting and pointing towards them, time to go.

“Run!” Aang shrieked, and they took off in another sprint. It was a good thing they had spent the last year of their life running from the Fire Nation, otherwise they would have passed out from exhaustion hours ago. Behind them, the guards were shouting, and a metal cable zoomed past Suki’s head.

They quickly ran down a street, then turned and ran down another one, having no idea where they were going as long as it got them away from the guards. Of course, they turned down another street and were faced with a metalbending guard. Behind them, three guards had managed to catch up. Sokka had no doubt that there were more reinforcements on the way. There were only four guards here, but if they didn’t act quick they’d soon be surrounded. Plus the Gaang was exhausted, not having a chance to rest between the Equalizers, getting arrested, breaking out, and sneaking back in. They were tired, and off their game.

Thinking quickly, Sokka threw his boomerang at the single guard blocking their path. She ducked. “Really? You don’t even have good aim-“ She was cut off by the THWACK of the boomerang hitting the back of her head, knocking her to the ground. At the same time, Toph raised a giant earth wall and shoved it at the other three behind them. 

“Go go go!” He shouted, and the six of them ran off in the chaos before the others could chase after them. At least this time they didn’t cause any property damage. Well, not that much.

_____

The six of them walked back through the city, semi-confident that they were safe from the metalbenders. They were exhausted, walking through the crowd like normal tourists. As they walked, a paper blew in front of Katara’s feet.

“Hm? What’s this?” She picked it up, reading the text. It was an advertisement for the pro-bending championship match. She turned towards the others. “Hey Sokka, Aang, Toph, didn’t you guys want to go to that Pro-Bending thing?”

Toph nodded. “Yeah, but they wouldn’t let us in without any money. Then we got kicked out because Aang stole a contestant’s fire ferret? That was fun. Ish.”

Katara filed that away, reminding herself to ask about what exactly the three of them had done later. “Well, we actually have money now, and I kinda want to see this pro bending thing.”

Aang looked up, excited. “I managed to catch a glimpse of it, and it looked super cool! I wanna check it out!” The others nodded in agreement, with murmurs of excitement.

Katara grinned. “Then I know what we’re doing tomorrow night!” They had all been stressed, and they all needed some down time. Being time traveled 70 years into the future was an unexpected blessing, and they all deserved a vacation, especially since they had never gotten a chance to truly relax between training to kill the firelord and becoming important political figures in charge of keeping peace between the nations. Besides, what was the worst that could happen? It was just going to be a fun match, and the six of them could finally relax.

There was no way this could go wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to say this formally, bc I personally know that I hate it when this happens. I will be finishing this fic. Idk how long it will take me to, since I don't have as much free time to write, but I am gonna finish it. And if I decide I don't want to write it, I'll post something telling you all bc I don't wanna leave you all hanging. I know it sucks when ur reading a fic and then the author hasn't updated since 2014, but I promise I'm not gonna leave y'all hanging :)
> 
> Also I'm sorry I never respond to comments, ur all just so nice and I never know what to sayyyyy hhhh so I wanna give a shout out to whiteboard1, dannydannyurl, rey_pulga, destinydrakes, itsrebecca, and everyone else who's been commenting you're all so wonderful!! Ur comments make me so happy u don't even KNOW and I'm so glad you're all enjoying my writing
> 
> tbh the whole reason I started writing this was bc I was like "gaang shenanigans in Republic City commiting crime" bc there isn't enough platonic gaang fics and that is a Crime and I will take recs pls, but also this is my first fanfiction ever so I have no idea what I'm doing lol
> 
> Anyways sorry for rambling so long, I hope you all have a wonderful day!! Go eat or drink some water if u haven't recently :)


	5. Fun Pro-Bending Times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *nervously glances at this 10k chapter and the 30k and counting wordcount* this fic was NOT supposed to be this long
> 
> hiya, i didn’t expect to update so soon with such a long chapter! its a thanksgiving miracle, probably bc of my small amount of homework and it being break
> 
> i wrote this whole chapter while listening to lady gaga on my old ass ipod, so thats the vibes for this chapter

After a day of Appa and gaang cuddles, and lazing around because they didn’t want to head back into the city and inevitably get in trouble again, the six of them were all ready to finally go watch a pro-bending match.

There was unfortunately a problem.

“I’m sorry, but that’s 85 yuans per person.” The vendor replied, tone sympathetic. 

The six of them looked at each other, panic in their eyes. All together that would be about 500 yuans, and they were running a little low on cash. They also didn’t know if they even had 500 yuans, considering they still didn't know how much the paper slips and the gold coins were worth.

They sadly walked away, trying to think of an alternative.

“We could try sneaking in again,” offered Zuko.

“Stealth isn’t really our forte, and besides, I just wanna relax,” Sokka replied, putting an arm around Zuko. He didn’t seem to notice the firebender’s flushed face as he continued. “And besides, I don’t want to be running away from the cops again. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.”

Aang stared thoughtfully for a minute, before snapping his fingers. “I’ve got an idea!”

“Is it going to be the same as your last idea?” Toph deadpanned. “Because that was terrible.”

Aang pouted at her. “No, it’s going to be even better! Now, all we need is a very long robe…”

_____

Katara took it all back. This, hands down, was the single worst idea Aang had ever had. Even worse than his idea to be stacked on top of Toph yesterday. Because now, they were all stacked on top of each other.

Katara had gotten lucky. She was the head, because everyone agreed that she was the most diplomatic, and most likely to convince the vendor to ignore the fact that this was clearly six queer teenagers in a trenchcoat. Toph wanted to be the feet again, and when they tried to argue that they might crush all her she called them all weak little bitchbabies and she could definitely take it. So, Toph was on the bottom. The order was Katara on top, then Zuko, Sokka, Aang, Suki, then Toph. They were all sitting on each other's shoulders, and relying on a blind girl to steer the six of them. They had managed to snag a long dark robe off a clothesline that just barely covered all six of them, but got the job done. All in all, they looked like a freakishly thin, tall, incredibly shady looking figure wearing a dark cloak covering their entire body, that walked and swayed like they had drunk a few too many glasses of plum wine. It was absolutely ridiculous.

Apparently the old lady working the counter earlier had finished her shift, because now there was an extremely exhausted and bored looking 20 something year old managing the ticket booth.  _ Perfect _ , Katara thought. If the old lady was still there, she might have recognized Katara’s face, which would have raised a lot of questions.

As they approached, she could only begin to imagine what they must look like. An abnormally tall figure emerging from the darkness, shrouded in shadows? She would have been terrified out of her mind. The only reaction the guy seemed to have was his eyes widening in surprise, but nothing else. It reminded her a lot of when Zuko was drowning in paperwork and hadn't slept for three days straight, or when Sokka stayed up for two days straight exploring an engineering idea. She supposed it must just be an “teen boys overworking themselves” thing.

They managed to make it the counter with nothing too disastrous happening, besides the usual swaying and almost collapsing. “Hello!” She said in her politest, sweetest voice, the one she used when the stupid Northerners were ignoring her ideas again just because she was a girl. Or as Toph put it, her  _ Sugar Queen  _ voice. “I’d like to purchase one ticket, please.”

To his credit, the guy was handling this surprisingly well. Then again, she had heard plenty of Zuko’s customer service rants earlier today, and he had been forced to smile through whatever bullshit was happening, no matter what it was. “That’ll be 85 yuans… er... m’am?” He was clearly unsure if she was a girl or a spirit, and that shouldn’t have excited her as much as it did. She could hear faint giggles from inside the cloak.

“Oh yes, of course, right here.” She felt Zuko shifting around and the jingling of coins, and a moment later he stuck out his arm and smacked a large amount of paper yuans in the general direction of the counter. There was a pause, and Zuko pulled out a few gold coins.

“Here’s your tip”, he said, attempting to place them on the counter but aiming a bit too far and hurling them over the counter at the vendor. If the vendor noticed that her “arms” were much paler in contrast with her face, or the fact that there were two different voices, he didn’t say anything. She could hear more muffled giggles from the rest of the Gaang. Right as she was about to leave (or Toph was) Sokka stuck out his hand, groping around until he grasped the vendor's arm. Then he firmly shook it in a traditional watertribe greeting, before pulling it back into the cloak. 

Katara just awkwardly nodded at the poor guy, who looked like he was about to faint. “Have a nice day!” As they started to walk inside, she realized that she had said day, even though it was 8pm at night. She smacked her hands to her forehead. “I’m an idiot!” She shouted, throwing up her arms. Unfortunately, doing this was apparently the final straw, because they all tipped over and spilled out across the floor. Luckily, Toph had moved them into an empty hallway, so they could lie on the floor and burst into giggles without too many questions.

“Sokka- Sokka, why did you do that, oh my spirits”, Aang gasped out between laughs.

Toph slapped the ground in laughter, the earth cracking a bit under the force of her palm. “Oh man, his heartbeat was going CRAZY!”

Sokka just giggled, wiping a tear away. “I wanted to freak him out as much as possible.” He turned to Zuko, who’s shoulders were shaking in silent laughter. “And you, giving him a tip! You practically threw the coins in his face!”

“I tried! He deserves something nice for dealing with us scaring the shit out of him!” Zuko threw his hands in the air in defensive outrage, but his smile and playful tone made it clear he was just joking around.

Katara just buried her face into her hands and snorted. “That was the single worst and best thing I’ve ever done.”

Suki sat up from where she had collapsed on the floor, calming her giggles. “We should probably grab some seats for the pro-bending match before they all disappear.”

“And snacks!” Sokka chimed in.

“Ok then,” Katara replied, using the wall to pull herself up and trying not to set off another giggling fit, “let’s go.”

_____

The six of them had managed to find some good seats that were close enough to the arena for them to see. Sokka and Aang had gone to grab snacks, the others shouting various foods at them as they left.

As they sat down, Toph groaned. “Ugh, they’re so far away! And there's a bunch of blank spots. I’m not going to be able to see anything.” She grumpily crossed her arms.

Zuko leaned towards her. “I can try to give you the play by play.” 

Toph snorted. “You don’t even know the rules of the game. Also, you only have one good eye.’”

He harrumphed at that. “I’m trying my best here.”

“Hey guys, we got the snacks!” They turned to see Sokka waving, him and Aang’s arms full of food.  They sat down and quickly started distributing the snacks to everyone. 

“Did you have enough money to pay for everything?” Katara asked anxiously.

“Yep!” Sokka grinned. “I just slapped a handful of money down and he took it all. Honestly, I think we might have given him a bit too much, but I told him to keep the change.” He said smugly. 

Katara put her head in her hands.

“Question, does anyone know the rules of this game?” Aang asked. He turned to a lady sitting behind him. “Excuse me ma'am, do you know the rules of this?”

The lady looked confused to be questioned by a twelve year old in a floppy pink sunhat. “Uh, sure? Basically there's a waterbender, an earthbender, and a firebender on each team. The teams need to push off all the members of the other team backwards into the water.”

“Thank you!” Aang said brightly, then turned back to the Gaang. “Ok, so how the game works is-”

“We heard her the first time Twinkletoes.” Toph raised a hand, cutting him off.

Suki looked around nervously. “There’s a lot of metalbending guards here…”

Sokka bit his fingernails. “You don’t think they’re here because of us, are they?”

Aang turned back to the lady. “Do you know why there’s so many officers here tonight?”

At this, the lady grew serious, tightly clutching her purse. “Amon threatened to attack tonight’s pro-bending match. You kids know who Amon is, right? Leader of the Equalists?”

At this, Aang’s face visibly fell. “Oh. That’s not good.”

The lady sighed. “How do you kids not know any of this?”

Katara politely smiled at her. “We’re not from around here. We’re just visiting for a few days, and we haven’t really been paying attention to the news.”

“I’ll say.” The lady muttered under her breath.

Aang turned back to the Gaang. “Well, I guess there goes our plans of relaxing for the evening.” He said sadly.

Sokka patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, there’s a bunch of those metalbending guys here. I’m sure we’ll be fine! And besides, there's no way they can beat the Gaang!”

“Shh!” Katara shushed them. “It’s starting!”

The lights went dim, and a spotlight focused on the center of the stage, where a man was standing with a microphone. “Introducing the challengers, the Future Industries Fire Ferrets!”

A spotlight moved, focusing on three teens in fancy uniforms and helmets as they waved to the crowd. “Hey, that’s that Korra girl and her earthbender friend whose ferret we stole!” Sokkka cried out excitedly. He waved, attempting to get their attention and failing.

“For the last time, it was an accident!” Aang pouted.

“And their opponents,” the announcer continued, “The three time defending champions, the White Falls Wolf-Bats!”

Flames erupted from the other side of the arena, where the other team was dressed in wolf-bat masks and long purple cloaks, howling. The crowd started howling in response as they dropped their cloaks to reveal black pro-bending uniforms in contrast to the Fire Ferrets red.

“Boooo! Go Fire Ferrets!” Sokka shouted. 

Katara just glared at him. “Sokka, you don’t even know the teams!”

“The wolf bats look mean! And besides, me and Aang and Toph have met two out of three of the Fire Ferrets!” Sokka protested. “The Fire Ferrets are clearly way cooler.”

The announcer had somehow managed to move into a glass box above the area when they weren’t looking. “The champs and challengers face off at the center line. And here we go!” A bell dinged, and one of the wolf-bats immediately started waterbending at Korra.

“Tahno tried to clean the Avatar’s clock with some dirty water-boxing!”

“Wait, Avatar?” Aang interjected, eyes growing wide.

The Firebending fire ferret shot a small flame at the wolf-bat earthbender, who dodged and threw two earth disks at him. “Ming shakes off Mako’s attack and returns the favor!”

“Hey, that guy is giving the play by play! That’s so cool!” Toph said excitedly.

A buzzer went off as the firebender (Mako?) got pushed back. “There’s three zones, and the buzzer goes off whenever you get pushed back into a zone. I think it also goes off whenever you advance into a zone”, Suki leaned in and whispered to Toph.

“Shaozu gets fancy but Bolin ricochets a disk off the ropes and says no thank you sir!” The wolf-bat firebender was smacked in the chest by an earth disk, and the crowd cheered, the gaang joining in.

“The waterbenders slug it out, looking evenly matched. Tahno gets a little too worked up and releases a deluge on Bolin that will certainly elicit a foul!” Tahno, the waterbending wolf-bat, bent a large torrent of water at the Earthbender.

The buzzer went off when Bolin was thrown back, but the referee didn't intervene. Katara overdramatically gasped. “They’re cheating!”

The crowd began booing in response. “The wolf-bats advance despite Tahno exceeding the water-bending time limit! A questionable call by the officials.” The announcer says, tone unhappy. “Ming trips up Mako with another dirty trick!” , he called out as the wolf-bat earthbender bent a disk right where Mako was standing, knocking the firebender over.

“The Ferret Brothers are backed up to zone three, and the Wolf-Bats smell blood.” The waterbender sent a sheet of ice towards Bolin, who was then knocked into the water. “Looks like Tahno snuck in an illegal icing move, but once again there’s no call.” The crowd began to boo even louder, the Gaang joining in.

“He’s totally cheating!” Zuko protested, despite not knowing any of the rules.

“I don’t know what match the refs are watching, but it’s obviously not this one.” The Wolf-Bats bent both water and earth at Korra, and the buzzer went off as she was pushed back. “A splash and a crash send the Avatar to zone three as well!” The three Wolf-Bats teamed up, knocking both Mako(?) and Korra off the edge of the arena and into the water. “It’s a knockout!” the announcer cried. “The Wolf-Bats win the championship for the fourth year in a- hold on a second, folks! The Fire Ferrets are still alive, but just barely!” The crowd gasped as they noticed Korra hanging onto the edge with one hand, and Mako’s uniform in the other. She swung, gaining moment and flung Mako on top of the arena, where he kicked out a bolt of flame and knocked Tahno across a zone.

“What an unbelievable move! These ferrets aren’t just bending the elements, they’re bending my mind!” Tahno climbed up, looking absolutely furious. “The underdogs survive to see round two!”

The two teams huddled, and there was a clamber as everyone got up to stretch their legs. “That was so cool!” Sokka gushed. “They were all like, wha-chow, and swoosh swoosh, and then that Mako guy totally put Tahno in his place!”

Aang adjusted the robe from earlier, having spread it out over the six of them as a makeshift blanket. “I can’t believe I’m actually getting to see the next Avatar. In person! Not as a spirit!”

“Round two!” The announcer called out, the bell ringing, and the Gaang turned back to the arena. “The opening salvo is a brutal brawl as both sides give it their all! But once again Tahno sneaks in a little ice to get the upper hand.” Korra was sent flying across the arena. Meanwhile, the two firebenders started dueling. “Wowza, those look like illegal headshots to me!” Mako ducked, a flame zooming right over his head, and the Gaang visibly winced. 

The bell dinged again, the match ended. “Round two will be decided with a tiebreaker!”, the referee called out as he flipped a coin. He gestured to the Fire Ferrets. “The Fire Ferrets win the coin toss!”

“Yes!” Katara cheered excitedly.

“Which element do you choose?” The referee asked the Fire Ferrets. Korra stepped forward, saying something they couldn’t hear to the other waterbender. The other four benders stepped away as the two waterbenders stepped forward into the ring in the center, where it rose up and elevated them.

Korra sent a jet of water at Tahno’s head, which he easliy ducked, before being uppercutted by a second jet of water. The bell rang as he fell off the platform, and the crowd went wild. “Round two goes to the Fire Ferrets!” The announcer cried out.

“Wow Aang, I can’t believe  _ that _ girl is who you reincarnate into. She’s a badass!” Toph said. Aang flushed in response.

“She’s really pretty,” Suki said dreamily.

Sokka looked at her indignantly. “Hey, I’m right here! Perfectly good Water Tribe boyfriend!”

Suki snickered. “You just don't like her because she looks like your sister.” Sokka spluttered in response, but didn’t get a chance to formulate a response.

“One round a piece! Who wants it more?” The announcer called out as the bell dinged. “The Wolf-Bats fly out of the gate, swinging with bad intentions. The challengers are showing a lot of heart, but the champs are really starting to find their rhythm now. Can the Ferrets hang in there with the best, especially when the best are frankly getting a little help from the refs? It’s all down to this final round!”

“Mako is leaving it all in the ring, but it looks like Tahno and Ming are up to more shenanigans!” The Earthbender Wolf-Bat brought a disc behind his back and shattered it. Tahno covered them in water and started bending it. The buzzer buzzed one, two, three times as the Fire Ferrets were all smacked off the arena and into the water. “Oh, this has gone too far! That water had rocks in it!” The announcer cried out in rage.

“Knockout!” The referee shouted, ignoring the frenzied shouting of the crowd. 

“That’s such a bullshit move!” The lady sitting behind them exclaimed, and the Gaang were inclined to agree.

“Well folks, it’s a controversial call, but the Wolf-Bats notch a nasty knockout to win the match! For the fourth year in a row they’ll be crowned tournament champions!”

The crowd was going wild as the Wolf-Bats raised their hands and waved, but something felt...off. “Guys, something's not right,” Suki whispered frantically. The rest of the Gaang turned to face her, Toph’s eyes suddenly widening in fear.

“AAUGH!” There was a sudden cry from the metalbending guard near them, and the Gaang turned to see him being electrocuted. Around them, the other metalbending guards cried out in pain before falling unconscious. “Equalizers!” Toph screamed, voice high and sharp with fear.

“Down there!” Katara frantically pointed, only to see a man with lighting rods electructe the water around the arena, electrocuting the Fire Ferrets with it.

“Folks, there is some kind of electrical disturbance in the stands. Metalbender cops are dropping like bumble-flies!” The announcer's tone grew fearful. “There appear to be masked members of the audience wielding strange devices on their hands. One of them is in the booth with me right now, folks. He is leveling one of those glove devices to me now, and I believe he is about to electrocute me.” The announcer's tone was surprisingly steady for someone about to get electrocuted by a terrorist. “I am currently wetting my pants.”

On the stadium, a group of Equalists were lifted up by a platform, approaching the Wolf-Bats. Standing in front of them was a cloaked man in a white mask with a red dot on the forehead. “That must be Amon,” Sokka whispered. “Why can’t we ever just have a nice day?”

The lady behind them screamed in terror. The Gaang turned around to see her, and several other audience members sitting in their general vicinity, being held hostage by three men with black bandanas with the same red dot on it, all wearing odd metal gloves that were crackling with electricity.

The crowd began shouting, and the Gaang turned back around to see Amon standing over Tahno. He pressed his fingers to Tahno’s head, and then kicked him over the edge of the arena, along with the other two benders. The crowd started screaming louder, this time in terror. “He took their bending,” the lady behind them whispered, terrified.

Aang frowned. “He shouldn’t be able to do that. Only-mph!” Katara quickly smacked a hand over his mouth, muffling him before he managed to say anything that would compromise them. Katara quickly pulled her hand away, groaning in disgust as Aang licked her hand.

Around them, Equalist banners were unraveled all over the stadium. “I believe I have your attention, benders of Republic City.”

“Oh, that’s the name of this city!” Sokka cried out.

Everyone else glared at him. “Sokka, is now really the time?” Katara asked him, annoyed. Sokka sheepishly shrugged in response.

Amon started talking, but the Gaang tuned him out. They didn’t need to hear about how bending was an impurity, or how Amon was going to equalize the city. “How are we gonna get out of this?” Katara whispered.

Sokka smacked his fist in his palm, tone serious. “Katara, you go down there and check on the Avatar. Me and Suki can handle the guards. Zuko, Toph, Aang, you guys go after that Amon dude.” The Gaang nodded, tuning back in to Amon’s speech.

“For years, we Equalists have been forced to hide in the shadows. But now, we have the numbers and strength to create a new Republic City!’ Amon continued. There was a sudden cry from the stands, and everyone turned to see one of the Equalists staggering backwards away from Sokka, who had just punched him. He smirked. “Hey, give us non-benders a little credit! Not all of us are terrorists!” 

Katara thrust her arms up, then pushed forward. The water under the arena surged upwards, then froze out, forming an ice bridge connecting the stands to the auditorium. She gestured at Zuko, Toph, and Aang to cross, then jumped down into the water. She bent the water up to catch her fall, then used it to push over to where the Fire Ferrets were tied up. She could see a fire ferret chewing at their ropes. (What was his name? Paku? Mabu?) “C’mon Pabu, just keep chewing!”, she heard the Earthbender say. Katara quickly sliced them free, and they turned to look at her as she grinned. 

“Aren’t you… a bit young?” The waterbender (Korra, the  _ Avatar _ ) asked.

“Is now really the time for that?” Katara asked her. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Korra nodded. “Be careful!” The earthbender (Bolin?) said, concerned. Korra just dived into the water, jettisoning upwards, Katara following her lead.

Meanwhile, Sokka and Suki were busy fighting off three chi-blockers, who also had the advantage of electricity. The first Equalizer charged Sokka, glove sparking. He quickly dodged, almost pulling out his sword, then deciding against it. Pulling out a metal rod while fighting someone with an electric glove would be practically asking to get fried. It was just him, boomerang, and whatever hand to hand he could remember, which wasn’t much. 

He jumped over a row of seats, grabbing a popcorn box and hurling it at the first chi blocker, which smacked him in the face. He snarled in rage, then ran towards Sokka again. Sokka swept his leg, tripping him, then grabbed a purse lying on the floor and smacked him on the head with it, knocking the Equalizer unconscious. He looked up at all the terrified audience members. “Are you guys ok?” He asked, concerned. They nodded, and he turned around to help Suki.

Suki was fighting the other two. One of them moved in, trying to electrocute her, and she ducked, kicking her opponent’s knees. He crashed to the floor, but made a grab for her ankle. She quickly stumbled back, just barely missing his hands. 

The second Equalist lunged forward, but she grabbed his outstretched hand and threw him over her shoulder. The first guy had managed to stand up and was apparently trying a new strategy as he attempted to attack her using a very familiar fighting method. She sidestepped him, and attacked him with a flurry of movement.

THUD, THUD, THUD-THUD.

He collapsed to the ground, completely paralyzed. Suki smirked. “You aren’t the only one who knows chi blocking.” She heard a familiar whistling noise from behind her and turned, watching as the second chi blocker was smacked in the back of the head. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious, revealing Sokka standing behind him. He caught the boomerang in midair as it flew towards him.

Sokka jerked his thumb towards the arena. “Let’s go help out the others.” Suki nodded, grinning, and they ran across the ice bridge to help their friends.

During all of this, Zuko, Toph, and Aang had been going up against Amon and his five Equalizer companions. Four of them looked like normal Equalizer goons, but the fifth one was wielding lighting rods as opposed to gloves.

“If you wish to fight, so be it. I’ll simply remove your bending as well.” Amon said in that eerily calm voice. The three of them shifted into fighting stances in response. He nodded, and the other Equalizers charged.

“Wait, what element should I bend? I can’t bend air!” Aang whispered frantically.

Zuko shrugged. “You can use air, but it’ll make our life ten times harder than it already is.” He shot a bolt of flame at an Equalizer, who sidestepped it.

“Our lives are already ten times harder than they should be.” Aang muttered under his breath as the Equalist with the kali sticks swung at him. He leaped up, only boosting himself with airbending a tiny bit, and landed on the man's shoulders, kicking his head down. The Equalizer (Aang needed a name for him; he clearly wasn’t like the other Equalizers) stumbled, but managed to regain his balance and turned to face Aang. 

He ran towards Aang again and this time Aang ducked, sliding between... Sparky? No, that was Toph's name for Zuko… maybe the General?’s legs, using the opportunity to try and trip him up. Unfortunately, the General? No, that didn’t fit, maybe Lieutenant? had spun around, kicking Aang and sending him sprawling across the arena. 

He bounced off the ropes lining the borders of the arena and looked around, trying to figure out what to do. Should he use fire? But he wasn’t that good at fire, maybe water? But there wasn’t that much of it here, he could use earth? There wasn’t much here either, and Toph was using all of it. Normally he would switch between elements, but that obviously wouldn’t work here…

The Lieutenant (yes, that sounded perfect! It was such a cool name too!) apparently hadn’t waited for him to figure it out, as he came charging towards Aang again. He swiped at Aang with his kali sticks and wow, were those things full of electricity, good thing he managed to dodge that! He jumped into the air again, noticing the Lieutenant's sticks were connected to an odd metal pack on his back using wires. Perfect! 

He landed on the Lieutenant’s back and started pulling at the wires, doing his best to ruin the delicate machinery. The Lieutenant screamed in frustration as the box started sparking, which was probably a good thing? He felt a thud right in his back, sending him sprawling onto the floor. He turned to see the Lieutenant clearly upset as his sticks stopped being electrified. Yes! Apparently this wasn’t enough to stop the Lieutenant as he started running towards Aang, swinging his sticks menacingly.    
  


Reacting on pure instinct, Aang swung his staff forward, only remembering at the last second that he wasn’t supposed to airbend. There was a THUD as his staff made contact with the man’s skull, and he staggered back, dazed, before collapsing.  _ Well,  _ Aang thought,  _ at least I didn’t airbend at him. _

Toph was currently taking on two of the Equalizers. The floor was an odd almost-earth, and she could still sense it, but wasn’t sure how well she could bend it. There were plenty of earthen discs lying around for her to use anyways. She grinned, lifting up four and sending them flying towards the Equalizers. They dodged, but one of them was too slow, and was smacked in the side, stumbling back as he clutched his side in pain. 

She took a step forward, and heard the buzzer go off, feeling cool metal under her toes. She grinned, thrusting her arms upward as the whole metal strip came flying up, She pushed it towards the other Equalizer, and it wrapped around him, rendering him immobile as he fell to the ground. 

She turned her feet towards the other Equalizer, who was running towards her. She quickly tossed two more discs at him, but he managed to dodge both of them, coming up right in her face. She reached out blindly (heh), feeling for the odd metal glove on his hand. She grabbed it and  _ crunched _ it, then used it to shove him away from her. 

He shouted in pain, his glove now uselessly crumpled around his wrist. Taking advantage of the moment of inactivity, she tossed four earth discs at him, knocking him flat, and then using them to pin him to the ground. Two down, however many left to go!

  
  


Zuko quickly sidestepped around one of the Equalists charging him. He had been left with the other two, while Aang and Toph handled the rest. He kicked at the second Equalizer’s legs, tripping him. The first Equalizer turned around and started charging at him again. He dodged again, then sent a bolt of flame at him. The Equalizer instinctively put his arm up to protect himself, letting his arm be burned instead of his face. The second guard dove for him, glove crackling with electricity. Zuko barely managed to dodge in time. He quickly did a spinning flame kick, hitting both of them with flames, and they stumbled back, wary.

Taking note of his surroundings, he noticed that they were by the edge of the arena. He suddenly advanced forward, sending out a flurry of punches that forced the two of them to go on the defensive, pushing them backwards towards the water. One of them, realizing what he was doing, ran towards him, but Zuko sidestepped it, turning so they were both flush with the edge. The two Equalists circled him, forcing him to move his back towards the edge to keep them out of his blind spot. 

One of them ran forward, but Zuko quickly moved to the side, letting the man’s momentum carry him over the edge. He turned back to the other Equalist, who was watching him warily. Zuko realized that trick wouldn’t work a second time. He looked around, trying frantically to think of an idea. His eyes settled on the glove, and an idea sparked to life. He could feel the faint buzz of electricity in the glove, so maybe-? He reached out a hand, concentrating and hoping he wasn;t about to make a fool of himself. The other Equalizer started at him in confusion, which was reasonable. He had no idea what he was doing either.

At first, it seemed like nothing was happening. He focused, feeling the electricity and tried to make it do his will. The glove started crackling and popping, hissing as smoke started coming out of it. The Equalizer panicked, and took off his glove, throwing it towards Zuko. He dodged, the glove sailing harmlessly over his head and into the water below. 

The Equalizer moved forward, attempting to chi block him, but Zuko had grown up with Ty Lee and knew how to dodge. He quickly sidestepped, angling himself so he was against the man's back, then elbowed his back, hard. The Equalizer stumbled forward, and right off the edge. He grinned, then turned back to his friends. 

They had taken down most of the Equalists, with all of them being incapacitated. But Amon was unscathed, and the other Equalist with the kali sticks was gettin up too. They both leapt onto the metal cables that had just been lowered. Not to be outdone, Zuko quickly scrambled onto one, beginning to climb it. He could see Sokka and Suki running over to them, and Katara and the other water tribe girl waterbending up to the arena. He noticed the cable he was clinging to was a bit long, snaking across the floor, and Toph had grabbed onto it. Sokka and Suki had reached him, and had begun climbing up his cable too.

Suddenly, the cables began moving, fast. Zuko suddenly felt himself rocketing upwards, and heard a high pitched scream. He looked down and saw it was Toph, clinging onto the cable for dear life as she was zooming upwards. He watched as Aang leapt, grabbing onto the cable right below where Toph was. “Don’t let go!’ He heard him shout to her, and Toph nodded, clinging on tighter. Sokka and Suki were there too, dangling from the cable as well. 

He heard a rush of water and saw Katara snag onto the cable too, right below her brother. “You idiots! Just hold on!” She shouted. Now all six of them were dangling from a cable attatched to a giant Equalist airship, being whisked away to fuck knows where.

Zuko should really start thinking out his plans more. Or, even better, have plans in the first place. 

He looked up to see that the two Equalists were already inside the airship. He also noticed that the airship was very high up, and as a result so were they. The arena roof was quite far below, far enough that landing on it would definitely severely injure them, if not kill them. The airship was starting to move, slowly drifting away from the arena and over the ocean. With horror, Zuko noticed that there were several destroyed airships surrounding the arena, still on fire. 

Below him, he could see Lin grappling up to the roof with Korra in tow. They both climbed onto the roof, and Lin shot a metal cable up, attempting to grapple up to them, but they were too high up for her to reach.

There was no way this could end well. Just Zuko, Sokka, Suki, Katara, Toph, and Aang, all clinging to a single metal cable connected to an airship hundreds of feet in the air, with certain death on both sides. Either they would fall to their deaths in the ocean, or they would be reeled up by the Equalists and most likely be imprisoned, have their bending taken, or killed. Or maybe all three.

He looked up, noticing Amon near the winch that was pulling up their cable. With a start, he realized Amon was going to do something to their cable!. He punched a bolt of flame, as hot as he could make it without revealing the dragon’s rainbow colors, and watched as it struck him. He staggered back, hitting the winch, and there was an odd groaning noise as the cable suddenly felt looser in his hands.

Ah, shit.

_ I should have listened to Uncle more _ was his last thought before he started to free fall.

_____

Amon was having a bad day.

His attack on the pro-bending championship had been going so well! He had managed to take the waterbending brats bending, his Lieutenant had successfully knocked out the Avatar and her friends, and his Equalists had incapacitaed every metalbending guard, and taken the whole stadium hostage. Everything had been going perfectly.

Then, these six random teenagers had shown up and completely ruined his plans! They had managed to take out his chi blockers  _ and _ his Lieutenant with ease, and they had managed to free the Avatar too. And now, they were hanging from a metal cable that was  _ supposed _ to be for reeling up one of the other Equalizers. Who had been incapaticated. By children.

There were two options here. One was to let the cable go loose, and let them all die. The other was to reel them up and capture them and take their bending. They were an unforeseen element in his plans, and they were too powerful to continue being around and causing trouble. He needed to end this, now. He could let them all die, but they were all quite young. Two of them were prepubescent, and looked about thirteen, and the rest weren’t much older. He didn’t really want to kill kids. But if he brought them up, there was a chance they might actually defeat him. They were unusually skilled for their age, already elite masters while others would struggle for decades to have that kind of power.

He walked over to the winch, making a decision. He reached for the lever that would pull them up, but the angry firebender from earlier shot a massive jet of flame at him. He staggered back, bumping into the lever that released the cable, and watched as it unraveled too quick for him to do anything.

Well, at least he didn’t have to make a choice.

_____

Zuko punched a flame at the creepy Equalizer guy, who stumbled back and into the winch, and then Sokka was free falling, spirits this was  _ just like the airship all over again- _

The wind was cold and sharp and whistled through his wolftail, and he looked to see Suki falling near him, reaching out and grasping onto a terrified Toph’s arm. Zuko was above him, trying to use his firebending to save himself but failing, and Katara was falling near Aang, not quite close enough to reach him. 

There was no way they were getting out of this intact. Their best chance had been to get reeled up and (hopefully) be taken prisoner, but that option had clearly flown out the window. Instead, they were plummeting to their deaths, hundreds of feet above the ground. Either they’d fall onto the roof of the arena, where their bodies would make a nice splatter against the glass, or they’d fall into the ocean, where if the impact didn’t kill them, the freezing waters and burning wreckage would. Or Aang would go into the Avatar state and save them, which would make life  _ so _ much more complicated.

Sokka started debating if he’d rather go splat in the ocean or on the arena roof. Maybe if he angled it right, he could fall through the giant hole the Equalists had made in the roof and splatter right in the center of the arena.  _ The clouds are very nice tonight _ , he thought distantly.  _ Very fluffy, and white, and… flying towards them? _

_ Clouds are not supposed to move that fast _ , he absently thought at it moved closer. It was starting to approach him at a very alarming speed, and he finally began to panic because there was no way that was Appa, Appa was asleep with Momo, so what-

He suddenly made impact, landing on... leather? And his fall had hurt a lot less than it should have, almost as if there was some sort of cusion...

He suddenly started speeding towards Suki and Toph, and he reached upwards and grabbed Suki’s hand, yanking her and Toph down into the saddle (why were they in a saddle?) with him. “Hey, I’ve got you.” At hearing his voice, Toph latched onto his arm and burst into tears.

“Guys.” Suki said, voice oddly quiet. Sokka turned to the front of the saddle, simultaneously realizing two things.

One, they were on a sky bison. And it wasn’t Appa, the markings were different. Sokka knew this because when you ride on a flying bison for a year, you tend to memorize its markings.

And two, there was an airbender piloting the bison. Not a small thirteen year old, with a scarred arrow and the weight of the world on his shoulders, but an actual, adult, airbender, with mastery tattoos exactly like Aang’s.

Sokka had seen the damage the Fire Nation had left across the four air temples, had witnessed Aang’s grief for his people and his culture, watched Aang struggle with the burden of being the only airbender left. He had only seen paintings and statues of other airbenders, had heard stories and legends about Monk Gyatoso, Avatar Yangchen, and countless other airbenders. But he had never expected to see this, evidence that the Air Nomads were living on.

“What, what are you two staring at?” Toph impatiently asked.

“An airbender.” Sokka whispered. Toph’s eyes widened in realization, softly moving her mouth in an O. “Also, the Chief of Police.” 

Lin was also there. This was the third thing he had realized. He was aware that earlier he had said two, but he figured that the Chief being there was less relevant.

All of this had happened in a span of a few seconds. In case you forgot, the rest of the Gaang was currently falling to their very untimely deaths.

The airbender yanked the reins of the bison, sharply veering up and left, heading towards a falling Zuko. He unsteadily stood up, reaching towards him. “Kid, sit down!” The Chief snapped at him, but he ignored her, reaching closer, closer…

She yanked him down to his knees, hard. He scowled at her, but stretched out over the side of the bison, reaching towards Zuko. He was right there! Zuko was reaching out too, just a little bit closer…

Their fingertips brushed against each other as Zuko fell.

He could see Zuko’s face fall as he went down, down, just barely out of Sokka’s reach. “No, NO!” He could hear himself shouting, straining as hard as he could, but it was no use. Zuko was falling, and Sokka couldn’t save him.

Suddenly there was a familiar noise and a metal cable had wrapped itself around Zuko’s wrist, pulling him up into the saddle. Zuko was staring at the Chief, wide eyed in disbelief. “Holy fucking spirits, Agni-” Sokka quickly cut him off, squeezing him into a hug. He turned and stared at Lin, silently thanking her. They had been causing a lot of destruction and she could have easily left them to die.

She nodded, uncomfortable, and turned back to the airbender. “Tenzin, there’s two more, down there!” She pointed towards where Katara and Aang were falling, and the airbender (Tenzin?) jerked on the reins, guiding the sky bison below.

The four (well, three, Toph couldn’t see) of them looked over the edge, helpless to do anything and forced to put their best friends' lives in the hands of a stranger. “They aren’t gonna make it”, he whispered as he watched his friends fall, hoping that they could save themselves.

_____

Katara was falling, Aang by her side. He was clutching tightly onto his hat with both hands, trying not to let it blow away and expose his arrows to everyone who was watching six teenagers fall from an airship. His eyes were tightly squeezed shut in concentration, and she saw the parts of his arrow peeking out from under his clothes flicker a glowing white, then fade back to blue, then flicker white again.

_ He’s trying not to go into the Avatar state _ , she realized. There was no way it would end well if Aang decided to go into the Avatar state, especially when there was already a well known Avatar who was here in Republic City. There was also the fact that it would most likely expose his arrows, which would raise even more questions, and then they’d have to explain the whole time travel thing, which absolutely no one wanted to do. It was up to her, then, to save the both of them. Luckily, she was a master waterbender, and they were falling towards the ocean.

She locked elbows with Aang, who still had his hat in a death grip, and reached down with her free arm. “Don’t worry Aang, I’ve got this”, she said aloud, and he nodded in response. She focused, trying to reach out towards the water. They were getting a lot closer to the water, but she didn’t want to get too close, otherwise she could mistime it. She could feel it, faintly lapping at her senses, and she grabbed onto it and  _ pulled _ . The water started reaching up, spiraling higher and higher towards her. As it rose, it started growing bigger, the waves crashing below as the water bent to her will. Beside her, Aang shakily opened his eyes, having managed to get the Avatar state under control. He looped an arm around her neck and used his other hand to clutch onto his hat, which was in serious danger of flying off. Katara adjusted her grip so that her other arm was around his waist, free arm still bending the water. Up and up it went, swirling around her and forming a massive typhoon of water, holding her and Aang above the ocean.

It was some of the most impressive waterbending she had ever done.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep it up forever. Bending such a large amount of water with only one arm while carrying another person was taxing, and she was already starting to tire. She slowed the typhoon down, letting it become gentle and carrying her downwards. She pushed out, and turned it into a large wave, carrying her and Aang to shore.

They stood up, both shaky. “Sorry I wasn’t much help back there,” Aang said, looking at her sheepishly. “I tried to use my glider to airbend, but then I remembered that I can’t airbend, and then I just started freaking out. But that was so cool!” His tone quickly turned excited, bouncing on the back of his heels. “I’ve never seen anything like that before! You were so awesome!” He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Katara only blushed in response.

They heard a faint shout and turned towards the noise. “Over here!” She heard Sokka shouting, waving from the top of a… sky bison? That wasn’t Appa? And there was an airbender riding it, in full mastery tattoos.

“Another airbender,” she heard Aang whisper beside her, and she turned to see tears forming in his eyes. She reached out, squeezing his hand as they waited for the bison carrying their friends to land.

_____

The bison flew towards Aang and Katara, who were standing together by the rocky coast by the arena. The bison lowed as it landed, and its passengers began clambering off.

“Oh thank fucking Spirits, we’re safe again.” Toph kneeled down and began kissing the earth. “I’ll never take you for granted again.”

“You guys are ok!” Sokka sped over to Katara and Aang, squeezing both of them into a hug. “Don’t scare me like that again.”

“If anything, it’s his fault.” Katara pointed towards Zuko, who simply shrugged in response. “No braincells in this one.”

“This has been great, but we should probably go.” Suki said, gesturing towards the  _ Chief of Police _ and her airbender friend, both who probably wanted to arrest the six criminals that have been causing chaos over the past few days.

“Not so fast you six.” The Chief commanded sternly. There was an odd grating noise, like metal on metal, and Zuko, who had been walking to the others, suddenly jerked back. There was a metal cable wrapped around his right wrist, the same wrist that the Chief had grabbed to pull him up earlier.

Fuck.

Zuko simply lifted up his wrist and loosely waved it, looking incredibly dead inside. “You know what, this might as well happen.” He sighed, then suddenly kicked back, sending a jet of flame right at the Chief. Unfortunately, this only caused her to jerk the metal cable, and by extension Zuko’s arm, back, hard. At the same time, Toph reached out, severing the metal cable in two and pulling the part still wrapped around Zuko’s arm forward, jerking his arm forward with it. He cried out in pain as he staggered over to the rest of the Gaang, and Toph bent the rest of the metal off of his wrist.

“Fuck, I think you dislocated my arm.” Zuko hissed at Toph, clutching it and attempting to keep it in place.

She shrugged guiltily in response. “Sorry Sparky.”

The airbender (Tenzin?) moved forward, pointing his staff at them. “Stand down!” He shouted. Beside him , Lin moved into a fighting position. The Gaang shifted, ready to fight their way out of this.

Korra, the  _ Avatar _ , jumped down from above, moving into a fighting stance. She smirked. “There's no way you can beat all three of us.”

The Gaang looked at each other nervously, trying to decide what to do. Should they fight, or should they run? Did they have enough strength to fight a metalbending master, an airbending master, and a (presumably) fully realized Avatar?

Toph nodded. “Ok, here’s the deal. We’re going to leave. You don’t get to do anything” She stomped her foot, sending out a massive wave of earth and kicking up a gigantic cloud of dust. By the time the dust had cleared, the six of them had run. 

“I’m going after them!” Korra shouted, sprinting after them before Lin or Tenzin could intervene.

_____

Korra ran across the coast, following six pairs of footsteps until they reached the streets. She ran straight, looking for any sign of them on the empty, dim-lit road. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of bright yellow disappearing around a corner. There! Chasing after the yellow, she ran into a construction site.

It was silent, the only sound her own heavy breathing. There were supports and girders everywhere, and she slowed to a stop, trying to take in her surroundings. She lit a small flame in her hand, the only source of light besides the pale moonlight, and cautiously walked forwards, eyes straining for a glimpse of color in this metal jungle.

She heard a creaking from up ahead and a faint giggle, and she whipped her head to face the noise. She sprinted towards it, not looking where she was going until it was too late. Her foot caught on a tripwire, and she flailed wildly, flame going out, as she tried to keep her balance. She managed to stand up straight, feeling rather smug, when she was suddenly yanked into the air. She let out a cry as she realized she was dangling from a metal cable, suspended high in the air. She was too high up to earthbend, and there wasn’t any water for her to bend. She could firebend, but it would take a while to superheat the metal enough to free herself, and it would hurt. And airbending… wasn’t an option. For obvious reasons. Essentially, she was stuck.

She knew she should have asked Lin to teach her metalbending when she had the chance!

“Huh. I thought since you’re the Avatar, you’d be better than this.”

Korra looked up indignantly, meeting a pair of milky white eyes. The earth kingdom girl from the other day was crouching on a girder that was conveniently right in front of where Korra was hanging. Behind her, the other members of their little gang were either hanging off or sitting on random girders and metal beams. The firebender was somehow hanging upside down, legs criss crossed applesauce around a vertical metal beam. The nonbender girl was hanging upside down above the earthbender from another girder, while the waterbender was sitting next to the nonbending girl right side up, legs swinging over the edge. The nonbender watertribe boy was sitting next to the earthbender with one knee pulled up, the other dangling off the edge, and the kid in yellow was somehow sitting in midair, back against a vertical support beam.

It was the gayest thing Korra had ever seen, and she has seen some pretty gay shit.

“What the fuck,” she uttered, then looked chastised. “Wait, I meant-”

“Save it.” The blind girl snorted, waving her hand. “Ok, question. Can you connect to your past lives? This is a matter of life or death.”

“This isn’t life or death,” The waterbender said from above.

“It does kind of feel like it, doesn’t it?” The water tribe boy mused.

The others (minus the blind girl) glared at him. “No actually, it doesn’t.” The nonbender girl said carefully.

“Have we not been in life threatening danger several times since we arrived here?” Water tribe boy questioned.

“Yeah, but like, that’s just the norm.” The firebender said from his weird position, arms dangling.

Everyone made noises of agreement to that.

Blind girl clapped. “Ok! Let's focus on the Avatar we currently have hanging in front of us.” They turned back to Korra, who was attempting to firebend her way free. Key word being attempting.

The kid in yellow floated (floated?) down, walking over to Korra. “You’re that kid from earlier who stole Bolin’s fire ferret!” She shouted, pointing a finger.

“For the last time, that was an accident!” He scowled, then turned back to Korra, brimming with enthusiasm and friendliness. “I had no idea you were the Avatar when I met you! Can you talk to your past lives?”

Korra raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “Of course I can. Why wouldn’t I? Why do you care?” Korra, as a matter of fact, could not talk to her past lives, but they didn’t need to know that.

The blind girl leaned forward until she was nose to nose with Korra. “We need to ask Avatar Aang something.”

Korra scowled. “Of course, you just want Avatar Aang. Everyone always prefers the dead Avatar, when there’s a new, perfectly capable one right here!” She stuck out her arms and waved them as she talked, and blind girl quickly leaned back.

“I’m sure you’re a wonderful Avatar, but we need Aang’s advice specifically-“ The waterbender tried to interject.

“I can help with your problem! I’m right here!” Korra shouted angrily. “Ask away!”

The six of them looked at each other, trying to decide the best course of action. The water tribe boy sighed, then looked back at Korra. “Do you, uh… know anything, about… time travel?” He asked hesitantly.

Korra stared at him for several seconds that felt like an eternity. “What?” She asked in disbelief.

“KORRA!”

“Oh shit, that’s our cue to go!” The blind girl said, standing up. “It was nice talking to you, Avatar Korra. You seem pretty badass.” She snickered. “Bye!” And with that, the kids disappeared into the shadows, leaving a dangling Korra behind. How the hell did those kids move so stealthily?

“Hey wait! You can’t just leave me here! Come back!” She shouted at their vanishing figures, but it was too late. They had already left. Korra sighed. “Lin, over here!” She shouted back.

There was the familiar zipping of a metal cable as Lin grappled up to where Korra was hanging. She sighed, and bent Korra’s foot free, letting her fall onto the ground. “Ow!” Korra said as Lin grappled down to where she was. “You didn’t need to do that.” Lin just raised an eyebrow at her in response.

“So, I heard them talking to you before they left. Anything they wanted?” Lin asked.

Korra shrugged. “They said something about time travel, but what they really wanted was to talk to Avatar Aang. They said they specifically needed his advice. For what, I have no idea. I think they just said time travel to mess with me, and because they didn’t want me to know what they actually wanted.”

Lin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Thank you, that’s very helpful.” She looked at Korra. “Alright, let’s get out of this dump. Tenzin shouldn’t be too far behind.”

As the two of them walked out, Korra looked behind her, almost expecting to see them hovering in the shadows. Something about them felt familiar, especially the kid with the hat. She suddenly, desperately, wished she could contact her past lives, just to ask Aang what she should do. Those kids were important somehow, and she wished she knew why.

_____

The six of them ran out of the construction site, feet pounding against the sand as they sprinted across the coastline. Finally, they made it to Appa, where they all collapsed on their makeshift bed.

“Zuko, your shoulder!” Katara cried out, having forgotten all about injuries. “Is anyone else injured?”

Other than a small cut from a piece of glass Toph had stepped on earlier, everyone else was fine. She healed the cut, then turned back to Zuko.

“Unfortunately, since it’s dislocated, I can’t just heal it with my waterbending.” She winced. “I need to set it first.”

Zuko attempted to shrug, only partially succeeding. “It’s fine.”

Katara winced again, then hesitantly reached her hands towards Zuko’s shoulder. “It’s gonna really hurt…”

Sokka groaned. “Katara, you’re taking too long!” He moved over to Zuko, and before Zuko could blink, shoved his shoulder back in place. Zuko let out a cry of pain and outrage.

“Sokka, what the fuck?” He rubbed his shoulder and spit a few sparks at Sokka, who yelped and scooted back.

Katara bent some water out of her flask and began running it over Zuko’s shoulder, to help ease the pain and get it functioning again. 

“Katara was taking forever, and you just needed to get it over with!” Sokka protested. “It hurts way more when you’re just sitting there waiting for it, trust me.”

Zuko nodded in agreement. “Fair enough, but that still hurt. A lot.” He breathed a small flame towards Sokka, who yiped and dove behind a bemused Aang.

“Zuko, quit bullying Sokka.” Katara gently slapped his non-injured shoulder. “He only partially deserves it.”

The rest of the Gaang laughed, while Sokka pouted.

“So,” Suki said, unsure of exactly what she was trying to say.

A somber mood fell over the Gaang. “This new world has a lot of problems still.” Aang offered, squeezing his robes anxiously.

Katara finished healing Zuko’s shoulder and bent the water back into her flask. “But this isn’t our world.”

“No,” Aang agreed. “it isn’t. But we should still help.”

Katara reached out a hand and squeezed his shoulder. “We should help a bit, but this isn’t our time. This world isn’t our responsibility. There’s a new team Avatar, who have plenty of allies and are handling it.”

Zuko leaned forward. “We have our own world, our own time, to focus on. We should be focused on fixing that one, so that it can create this one.”

Sokka leaned back against Suki. “We should be seeing this as a break! I know that I’ve needed one. When was the last time all six of us have just hung out together to relax? No training, no politics, just vibes? Besides the Ember Island Players,” he hastily added.

Everyone shuddered at the memory. “That was terrible.” Aang said, his eyes haunted by things no mortal should ever see.

“I told you they were bad!” Zuko exclaimed, crossing his arms.

Suki leaned against Appa, thoughtful. “I think that actually was the only time the six of us have hung out together that wasn’t politics or training to kill the firelord.”

“Exactly!” Sokka exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. “Team Avatar needs a vacation day! Consider this a blessing in disguise.”

“If anything, this is more of a vacation _week_.” Katara added.

“There’s an awful lot of almost dying and being chased by law enforcement for a ‘vacation’” Zuko muttered, making air quotes.

Toph just shrugged. “It’s no fun if you  _ aren’t _ running from the law at least once or twice!” She laughed.

The Gaang laughed as they leaned against each other, staring at the stars that were so new and yet familiar at the same time, and slowly drifted to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alrighty we had some fun korra time! things are slowly getting a bit more involved with canon... hehehe
> 
> i’ve been SO fuckin hyped to write this chapter, i’ve been daydreaming about that falling scene for WEEKS and it was one of the reasons why i started this fic in the first place
> 
> the second half of this story is kinda outlined but its v shaky, so i’ll be making it up as I go which is what I usually do, so idk when i’ll be updating again
> 
> remember to go eat or drink something, get up and stretch a bit! love y’all :)
> 
> ALSO CHECK OUT THIS AWESOME FANART THAT LYCHEE (jade-of-mourning) MADE OF THE KORRA SCENE RIGHT [HERE](https://jade-of-mourning.tumblr.com/post/636075851678629888/httpsarchiveofourownorgworks27128605chapters/) ITS SO COOL :D
> 
> also we have a Tumblr now, same username as on here :)


	6. Two Kidnappings For The Price Of One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y’all, sorry its been a while! i’m not dead, just swamped with work. this chapter is shorter, mainly bc ive been struggling with writing it since I wasn’t sure how to get from plot point A to B, but aru bugged me and they said i should do the museum scene, so. this is their fault. enjoy!
> 
> oh! if u didn’t see it before, jade-of-mourning posted some awesome fanart of last chapter which i linked in the chapter 5 endnotes, and we also have a tumblr now! same thing as our ao3 name, just with dashes instead of underscores. also shoutout to everyone who found this through that fanart, welcome! i’m glad ur enjoying this so far :)
> 
> i wonder why the rating went up, hehehe...

The next morning, the Gaang woke up, stretching as the sun rose high in the sky. Zuko and Aang were already awake, running through firebending katas.

Sokka yawned, his jaw cracking. “How long have you two been up?”

“Firebenders rise at dawn with the sun.” Zuko replied as he moved through another stance.

Katara rubbed her eyes. “But do you really need to practice? We’re on vacation?”

Zuko stared at her. “This entire vacation has been us running away or fighting various groups of powerful people.”

Toph shrugged, picking dirt out of her toes. “That’s just the norm for us wherever we go. It’s no fun if you _don’t_ run from law enforcement once or twice!”

Zuko just sighed, dragging a hand over his face. “Aang’s firebending could definitely use some work; he isn’t exactly a master yet. I just thought it would be a good idea to practice, since both of us were up early.” At this, Aang pouted.

Sokka shrugged in response, then clapped his hands. “Alright! Less jerkbending, more planning. What’s our plan for today? Ideally, nothing goes wrong and we don’t have to run away from police or fight Equalizers.”

“I wanna go to Air Temple Island!” Aang immediately said, raising his hand. “I wanna meet the other airbenders there!”

“Aang, we can’t go to Air Temple Island. For one, it’s not open to the public. And two, you would probably get arrested.” Katara attempted to console him.

“And our cover would probably be blown.” Sokka added.

“We have a cover?” Toph asked.

“Shut up.” He muttered.

Aang frowned. “Maybe I could just say I’m a visitor?”

Zuko put a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe another day, buddy.”

Aang sighed, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “So I guess the Air Temple is off the table. Any other ideas?”

Suki cautiously raised a hand. “We could go to that museum by the Aang statue? We never did get to go.”

Sokka pointed at her excitedly. “That’s a great idea!” He said, grinning. “To the museum we go!”

_____

After some discreet waterbending, the six of them were standing on the shore, looking up at the giant statue of Aang.

“Wow.” Sokka said. ‘That is a giant statue of Aang.”

Toph stared in the statue’s general direction. “Wow,” she deadpanned, “It looks just like him.”

Sokka waved his arms at the statue. “I know, right? It’s so- wait.” He drooped. “Every time, I always fall for that.”

Toph just snickered.

Katara strode forward. “Alright Gaang, let's go find out more about our future selves and everything we’ve done over the past 70 years!”

“Wooh!” Sokka fistpumped. “Let’s ruin the timeline!”

“Sokka, the timeline is already ruined.” Zuko said.

“Let’s ruin it more!”

Thankfully, getting into the museum was free, so there was no need to worry about money. There was a surprising lack of metalbending police, but that was most likely due to them still dealing with the attack from last night. Besides, who would want to attack a museum?

“Over there!”

Aang pointed towards a man standing next to a group of miscellaneous people. “Tour starts in five minutes!” The man shouted, waving his arms. “Join us!”  
  


Aang started to walk over there. “We should join them!” Before he could walk any further, he was lifted into the air by the scruff of his jacket.

Zuko glared at him. “Aang, do you really think it’s a good idea to join a tour guide, and a large group of people, as we stand next to photos of ourselves and learn about our future selves?”

Aang pouted. “Fuck, you’re right.” Everyone gasped, and Zuko dropped him.

Toph was grinning at him like a maniac. “Twinkletoes, you just _swore_!”

Aang sheepishly shrugged, wisely opting not to say anything.

Katara covered her mouth with her hands. “I feel like I don’t know my own boyfriend!”

Sokka stared at him, lip wobbling and tears in his eyes. “Where did that sweet kid I used to know go?”

Toph just cackled and punched Aang in the arm. “Fuck yeah! Swearing buddies!”  
  


Suki put her head in hands and let out a long-suffering sigh.

Zuko just stared at him, arms crossed and disappointment in his eyes. He sighed. “Let’s just… go.”

The six of them wandered deeper into the museum, Sokka and Katara still being melodramatic.

Katara wiped away a fake tear as she walked. “I cannot believe this whole time Aang has been lying to us.”

Sokka opened his mouth to respond, but Zuko stuck out an arm. “Look.”

They turned to see a photograph of what was clearly an older Aang. He looked very mature. The only problem was-

“My beard!” Aang cried out in distress. He ran over. “Why does it look so bad?” He lamented, staring at it forlornly.

Sokka sympathetically patted him on the back. “That, my friend, is a struggle beard.” He shook his head. “Some people were never meant to have facial hair.” Aang visibly drooped.

Suki leaned in to study the plaque below it. “This section is about the history of the air nomads.” She drifted to the side, where there was a glass case containing a set of airbending robes and an obviously well worn glider. “Hey Aang, it’s your stuff.”

Aang turned, approaching the glass. “Huh.” He pulled out his own glider and compared the two, his face falling. Suki gently put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, guiding him away.

The six of them walked through the room. Most of it was Air nomad customs, beliefs, and histories, everything scrounged up from Aang’s twelve year old memory and whatever small fragments of their culture had survived after the genocide. There were two photos at the end of the hall. The first one was a young looking Aang, standing with about 50 people who were grinning. The plaque below it was titled. “Avatar Aang, with all the known descendants of the Air nomads” and a list of names. The second photo was of a much older Aang standing next to a young boy, both of them airbending. This photo was titled “Avatar Aang, with his airbending son, Tenzin.”

Aang stopped in front of the two photos, eyes teary. He looked at the list of names, attempting to memorize as many as he could. Katara squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll look for them when we get back.” She said softly, and smiled. Aang nodded in response, and the six of them left the room.

The next room detailed the history of the hundred year war; how it began, the methods the Fire Nation used to attack the other civilizations, and how the war was ended with help from the Avatar and his friends. They sped through that room. No need to relive bad memories.

They walked into a large hallway that had a massive photo hanging on the wall. It was a photo of the six of them, in their early 20’s. Sokka’s jaw dropped. “I got muscles!”

Zuko was also staring. “My hair got long!”

Toph grinned. “I got pretty.”

Zuko turned to stare at her. “Toph, you’re blind”, he deadpanned. She only giggled in return. “But you are taller”, he offered.

Aang shook his head in disapproval. “The beard is very disappointing.”

Suki stared up at herself. “We all got pretty hot.” Next to her, Katara choked on a laugh.

Sokkka leant down to read the paragraph of text underneath the photo. “Avatar Aang, Master Katara, Chief Sokka, Master Toph, Fire Lord Zuko, and Kyoshi Warrior Suki, all worked together to end the Hundred Year War and transform the Fire Nation colonies into Republic city. Woah!” He turned to the others. “We founded this whole city together?”

Zuko shrugged. “That actually isn’t that bad an idea. The Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom have been arguing over what to do with the colonies for some time now, and a neutral city not belonging to any nation is a pretty good compromise.”

“I apparently was the Head of Police, so that checks out.” Toph shrugged in response.

“Is there any more information on what we actually did? Anything about our roles in creating the city? We know Toph’s a cop, but nothing else.” Katara questioned.

Sokka shrugged. “That’s all the plaque says. Maybe there’s more information somewhere else?” The six of them watched the tour guide from before walking into a nearby room, chattering the whole time. “We can probably find something out if we follow him.”

They slipped into the room behind the rest of the tour, trying desperately to look like they hadn’t time travelled 70 years into the future and weren’t desperately trying to figure out what they had accomplished in the future. The room they had entered was definitely Fire Nation styled, with muted red walls and gold accents.

“Hey Zuko, do you know why all Fire Nation architecture has wooden floors? Wouldn’t that be a hazard, with all the, ya know, fire?” Sokka whispered.

Zuko shrugged. “I don’t know, why would I know that?”  
  


“Because you’re Fire Nation?”

“Shh!” Katara shushed the both of them. “I’m trying to listen!”

They turned back to the tour guide, who continued his speech as he gestured to a photo. “...And here we have a photo of Firelord Zuko with his dragno, Druk. Firelord Zuko is actually the first Firelord in over two generations to have a dragon, and has been taking extensive measures to bring them back from extinction…”

“What the fuck, I’m so jealous. I want a dragon!” Zuko angrily whispered to Katara.

Katara side-eyed him. “Zuko, that is literally your dragon.”

“Yeah, but I want a dragon now”, he grumbled. “I bet my advisors would take me seriously if I had a dragon.”

Katara threw up her hands in exasperation. “You’re going to get a dragon in the future-? Past? Soon.”

Zuko crossed his arms. “Hmph.”

As the tour guide left the room, Sokka took the opportunity to run over to a very formal looking painting of Zuko in full Firelord regalia, with a classic customer service smile. “Zuko, buddy, you look absolutely _miserable_ here.”

Zuko let out a long, deep sigh. “Ruling a country at the tender age of 16 is not a fun time.” He groaned. “This was a terrible idea. All we’ve learned is that we founded a city, and that I get a dragon at some point in the future. Past. Whatever.”

“Uh, guys?” Suki cut in, pointing towards the other side of the room. “Look, over there.” She said worriedly. The six of them turned to see a small girl standing by herself in the middle of the room. Her light brown hair was tied into a side braid, and she wiped her teary eyes on the sleeve of her gray jacket as she looked around nervously.

Aang walked over to her, kneeling down, “Hey there, what’cha standing over here for?’ He asked her gently, in that tone he reserved for small kids and animals, or when one of them needed comforting.

The girl sniffled. “My mom said I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

Aang leaned in. “Well, can I show you something cool?” At this, her eyes lit up, and she nodded enthusiastically.

Aang reached into his jacket pocket, fishing around for something. “Hold on..” He said, tongue sticking out concentration. “Aha!” He lifted his hand in the air, something clecnhed tightly in his fist. “Now watch this.” He grinned, and opened his palm to reveal two marbles, which he began spinning between his hands. In the background, Sokka groaned.

The girl's jaw dropped, and she leaned closer in amzament. “That’s so cool!” She said. “How are you doing that?”

Aang grinned at her, putting a finger to his lips as he put the marbles away. “That’s a secret. But what about you? What’s your name?”

She fidgeted shyly. “Rin.”

“That’s a pretty name! How old are you, Rin?”

“Five and three quarters!” She shouted proudly, holding up five fingers.

Katara walked over, gasping. “You're five and three quarters? You’re so old!”

Rin beamed proudly. “My mommy says I’m a big girl!”

Katara knelt down. “And where is your mom?” She asked kindly.

Rin started to look upset again. “I don’t know. We were on the tour, and I got distracted and didn’t notice she left.” She pointed at a well-worn turtleduck plushie in a glass case. “He’s really cute.”

Sokka turned towards the turtleduck. “Zuko, you didn’t tell us you had a stuffed turtleduck!” He said gleefully. “What’s his name? Sir Duckington the Third?”

Zuko flushed, embarrassed. “His name is Mochi”, he muttered, looking away as he hunched his shoulders.

Aang turned back towards Rin, who was starting to look less upset-over-her-missing-mom and more confused-over-Zuko-and-Sokka’s-ribbing. “Hey Rin, how about we help you find your mom?” Rin nodded bashfully.

Aang stood up. “Alright, Team Avatar is on the case!” He smacked his fist into his palm. “To adventure!” Rin giggled, and reached out to grab Aang’s hand as the six of them walked back into the main hallway.

“Slight question,” Sokka said. “Which way did the tour go?”

Toph shrugged. “Eh, I’m sure we’ll find them in no time. How hard can it be?”

_____

The answer to that, apparently, was very hard.

Sokka groaned. “Remind me why you can’t use your seismic sense again?”

Toph scowled. “I told you, there’s too many people here to tell which one is the tour guide, plus there’s multiple tours happening at the same time.”

Sokka groaned again in lieu of a response.

The six of them had been wandering the museum for about 15 minutes, with no luck. The museum was huge, and filled with visitors, and there were several tours happening.

Rin had somehow moved to sitting on Zuko’s shoulders. “Let’s go in that one!” She pointed towards a room decorated with green and gold, with a flying boar on the marble floor.

They wandered in, having nothing better to do then follow the whims of a child.

“Woah.” Sokka said, looking up. Inside the room, there was a metal statue of an older Toph, with a plaque underneath it reading “The Legacy of Toph Beifong”.

“That’s me!” Toph shouted, garnering the looks of a few other visitors. She grinned. “Oh man, I can’t wait to learn about all the weird shit future me did!”

“Don’t get your hopes up too high.” Katara said. “After all, you apparently became a cop.” She wrinkled her nose at this, the idea of Toph becoming a Police chief incomprehensible.

They skipped past the section about the Beifong family, and quickly moved on to a list of Toph’s many achievements.

“Inventing metalbending, helping overthrow Firelord Ozai by taking down a fleet of airships, opening up a metalbending school, becoming an Earth Kingdom ambassador for the Fire Nation, helping found Republic City, ruling Omashu for two months-” Sokka listed.

“Hang on, WHAT?” Toph cut him off.

Sokka frowned, looking closer. “Huh. Apparently you beat King Bumi in an earthbending match, so he gave you his crown and you ruled over Omashu for two months before his advisors forced you to give him his crown back.” He straightened, turning to her. “What the fuck.”

“Sokka!” Aang exclaimed. “There is a child here!” He pointed to Rin, who was dozing off on Zuko’s shoulders but perked up at her name.

“Aang, you are an absolute hypocrite-” Sokka started, but was cut off by an absolutely killer glare from Zuko.

The two boys stared at each other for a few seconds, neither wanting to be the first to look away. Fortunately, Suki was there. She slapped both of them on the back and leaned between them. “Let’s break it up you two. Zuko handles the baby, Sokka read’s Toph’s various crimes.”

At this, Rin clapped. “Yay, crimes!”

“Yeah Rin, let’s break some rules!” Toph cheered. 

Katara lifted Rin off of Zuko’s shoulders and away from Toph in one smooth motion. “Stop being a negative influence on the child!”  
  


“Excuse you,” Sokka said indignantly. “That child has a name, and her name is Rin-”

“Hey!” Toph said loudly. “I wanna hear the rest of my autobiography please. Some of us can’t read!” She waved her hands in front of her eyes.

Sokka winced. “Sorry.” He continued reading. “Police Chief of Republic City, had two daughters, ooh, you apparently invented something called braille?”

“What’s braille?” Toph interjected, face scrunching up in curiosity.

“Hmmm…” Sokka moved to another part of a room, where there was a large plaque with a series of labeled dots underneath the text. “It says braille is a form of writing for blind people; apparently each character is represented by a series of raised dots!”

He grabbed Toph’s hands and pushed them against the plaque, letting her run her hands over the dots. “Can you read what that says?” He asked enthusiastically.

“No dumbass, I don’t know what the dots mean.” She deadpanned, blowing her hair out of her face. The rest of the Gaang giggled as Sokka pouted. “This is actually pretty cool.” She remarked, continuing to feel the dots under her fingers. “How do I spell my name with this?”

Sokka guided her hand through each character, explaining what they were. Toph lifted a flat plate of earth up from the ground, and carefully bent the dots that represented her name. “Huh.” She said, trying to remain indifferent, but her voice was choked with emotion.

“Oh, I wanna spell my name!” Aang said enthusiastically. And then the rest of them were trying to spell their names too, telling Aang and Toph what characters to bend.

“And how do you spell your name, Rin?” Aang asked the small girl.

“R,I,N.” She said quietly, pointing to each character. 

He looked towards the rest of the Gaang, who were trying to convince Toph to bend certain words and phrases. Toph grinned, bending some pattern Aang couldn’t make out, and Sokka squeaked in indignation as the rest of them laughed. He turned back to Rin, focusing. Earthbending large chunks of rock were easy, but this was much more difficult. He needed to focus to be delicate. He jerked his hand up, and the characters making up her name raised off of the stone. They were a bit wonky, but could easily be recognized. “There!”

Rin squealed, running her finger over the simple word. “Thank you!” She said, squeezing Aang in a tight hug. He grinned and hugged her back.

“Attention please,” A voice crackled over speakers the Gaang hadn’t noticed were in the room until now.. The voice echoed throughout the museum. “We are searching for a young girl named Rin. She has a gray jacket, and was last seen in the Firelord Zuko section. If anyone has found her, please bring her to the front of the museum. Thank you.” The speakers crackled again, before falling silent.

The six of them looked at each other awkwardly. “Well, we should probably go return the child we accidentally stole.” Suki said, breaking the tension. The rest of them giggled.

“Hey Aang, we can add child abduction to your rap sheet!” Sokka laughed, elbowing him.

Katara dramatically draped her hand over her forehead. “Oh no, another crime we’re being accused of!”

They laughed, and began walking towards the front of the museum.

_____

“Oh Rin, there you are!”

“Mommy!”

Rin flew out of Katara’s arms, running straight towards a distressed older woman in a dull gray dress, accompanied by a purple scarf. “Oh sweetie, please don’t ever run off like that again.” The older woman hugged her tight, scooping up the girl and resting Rin on her hip. “You’re so lucky these nice people found you!” She stood up, staring at them with golden eyes.

“Oh, it was no problem ma'am! She was wonderful!” Aang smiled enthusiastically.

She looked down at her daughter. “Now Rin, what do we say to these nice people?”

Rin waved. “Thank you!”

The gang reassured the pair, saying that it was no problem and Rin had been wonderful. The mother thanked them again, insisting that there must be something she could do for them.

“Honestly, we’re fine.” Katara insisted. “No need to thank us.”

“Oh, but I insist.” The mom said, shoving a handful of yuans into Katara’s chest. “Please, you’d be doing me a favor. Think of it like babysitting money.” She smiled and began to walk off, Katara still clutching the money.

“Bye-bye!” Rin called out, waving back as they walked away.

“Oh, wait-” Katara tried to call, but the two of them had already left. She turned back to the rest of the gaang, yuans clutched in her hand. “So, what do we want to do?”

“It’s getting pretty late.” Zuko said, looking up at the sky. Time had zoomed by while they were in the museum, and it was almost dusk. 

Sokka hmmed. “Is there a gift shop?”

_____

There apparently was a gift shop, along with a small noodle store. Aang had bought a Momo plushie, but most of the items for sale weren’t very good. Suki had also bought a small pocket knife, but that was it. The teens had wound up buying several different types of noodles, since they had the funds to buy whatever noodles they wanted without worrying if the others would like it. They had wanted to eat it there, but the few security guards there had begun to side eye them, and they decided to leave before they got caught in another police chase. By the time they had left, the sun had set, the sky a dark purple, the only thing illuminating the darkness the streetlights and the stars.

“Yue looks beautiful tonight,” Katara remarked, staring at the bright crescent moon. The road was oddly deserted, no police or pedestrians, not even a car. The streetlights flickered.

“Yeah.” Zuko responded, tone wary. His hands reached down to hilts of his swords. “Very… bright.”

“Where is everyone?” Sokka murmured. The only answer was a cold gust of wind.

They turned down another street, leading to a large domed building with large glass windows. In front of it was yet another statue of Sokka.

Toph sighed. “Is that another fucking statue? There’s like, 50 in this city! I know we founded it, but do we really need so many? I liked them at first, but it’s starting to get a bit old.”

“Not to mention there’s no statues of Suki so far. That museum barely had anything on her too!” Sorra grumped. “My girlfriend is unappreciated.”

Suki patted him on the shoulder. “It’s sweet of you to care.” She smiled.

“No. Fuck this!” Toph stomped, and a statue of Suki in full Kyoshi gear, fans poised and ready for a fight emerged out of the earth. “Suki deserves a statue!”

Suki blushed. “Oh, you didn’t need to. Also, I’m pretty sure that putting it in the middle of the road where all the cars drive isn’t a very good idea.”

“Well they should have made more statues of you if they didn’t want that to happen.” Toph huffed indignantly.

“Well, thank you.” Suki’s grin turned smug. “Little _sis._ ”

“Ugh, no!” Toph shoved her away as Suki laughed. “I hate you!”

The conversation was cut off by the sudden sound of shattering glass. They turned to the building, and noticed a figure climbing inside a broken window. 

“We should do something!” Aang cried out, and began chasing after the mystery figure before any of them could stop him. The Gaang quickly ran after him, determined not to split up.

As they got closer, they could hear the faint sounds of a fight. There was a lot of shouting, and earth and waterbending noises. They could occasionally see a blast of fire, but then it would disappear. What was going on in there?

The six of them managed to make it up to the window. Aang leapt inside, gesturing for the others to follow. Inside, the room was absolutely trashed. Ice chunks, water everywhere, a chunk of the wall bent out of place, and a hole that led out into the main section of the building. They rushed out, careful to stay hidden, to watch the fight below. There were two figures, one of them Avatar Korra, and the other an older water tribe man.

“What are you gonna do now? You’re all out of water, pal.” Korra called out, walking towards the water tribe man, who was now lying on the ground.

Katara moved to try to intervene, but Suki lifted a hand onto her chest. “Wait,” she whispered.

Korra grunted, summoning two flames in her palm, then ran towards the man, screaming. The man stood up, moving his arms into a hauntingly familiar stance, and Korra shouted in pain, her flames extinguished.

The six of them froze, afraid to move. Katara let out a soft gasp, covering her mouth with her hands.

Korra cried out, her arms contorting as the water tribe man shifted stances. She fell to her knees, grunting in pain.

“You’re in my way, Avatar.” The man scowled. “And you need to be removed.”

Korra was trying to break free, but to no avail. “You’re-you’re a bloodbender?”

“Very observant.” The man said through gritted teeth.

“It’s not a full moon. How-how are you doing this?” Korra grunted out, straining against the bloodbender’s hold.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me”, he said. He jerked his hands, flinging her into a wall. Korra collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The gaang watched in horror as he picked her up and disappeared down a hallway.

“We need to go after him!” Aang whispered, breaking the silence. “He just kidnapped the Avatar!”

“Only I’m allowed to do that.” Zuko muttered.

Sokka slapped him on the back. “Love your sense of humour buddy, but now’s not the time. Aang, there’s no way we can go after that bloodbender. He just bended someone, when it _wasn’t_ the full moon. How powerful of a bender do you think he is, if he can do that? If we go after him, we’ll just get bloodbent ourselves, and that will _not_ end well.”

The Gaang shuddered, vehemently against the idea of being bloodbended. Katara swallowed, clenching her fists. “Maybe I could try bloodbending him, like I did with Hama-”

“No.” Sokka cut her off. “We don’t even know if that will work. You’ve only bloodbended under a full moon.” His tone turned soft. “And I don’t want you to have to do that to yourself.”

Katara nodded. “We should still go after them.”

“Of course.” Sokka agreed. “We’re going to have to be careful about this though. Toph, can you sense which way they went?”

“On it.” She paused. “They went down into a basement? With lots of cars. He just loaded her into one, and I think he’s going to drive her away.”

“Alright, let’s go.” They rushed outside, watching as a car drove away, with muffled shouting coming from inside. 

“There!” Zuko pointed, but the car had already sped away. Lucky for them, the city was oddly deserted, and there were no other cars on the street.

The six of them chased after them, determined to rescue the Avatar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ehehehe and now we get more into lok canon... i’m sure nothing bad will happen...
> 
> im v much hyped to write these next few chapters... but school is cracking down on work, hopefully i’lll have more free time over break :)
> 
> sorry this chapter was shorter, but my last chapter was 10k, and my other chapters have been like 7-9k. i’ve been spoiling y’all, you guys can survive
> 
> also shhhhhh i know the korra timeline is wack and the museum passage is time is wack. im aware. time progresses at the speed of plot here
> 
> you may have noticed that this had an end count now. i’ve had it planned for ten chapters since the beginning, but i decided since we’re over halfway through i should make it official
> 
> have a wonderful day, and if you haven’t, go drink something or eat something or take ur meds. and if you’re reading this instead of doing homework, go do it!! stop procrastinating!! i love y’all!! :)


	7. Korra Fun Time 2: Electric Boogaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year's bitches, may 2020 finally end
> 
> y’all want more korra fun times?? ur gonna GET sum

The gaang chased after the car, only using a bit of bending to avoid being seen, following it as it left Republic City and drove through a forest. They lost the trail somewhere around a mountain path, but thankfully there was only one road, and the car had left plenty of tracks in the snow and mud.

“Wooh,” Sokka huffed, resting against a snow covered tree. “That car is  _ fast.” _

“Sokka, that’s the point of cars.” Katara said. She paused. “I think.”

The six of them slowed down, taking advantage of the missing car to catch their breath. The snow crunched under their feet as they walked.

Toph shivered. “Ugh, snow sucks!”

Zuko took a deep breath and exhaled, the air suddenly warmer. They all sighed in relief.

“That’s so much better,” Aang sighed, eyes closed.

Katara looked over at him incredulously. “Can’t you literally keep yourself warm with airbending?”

Aang looked away. “It’s different!” 

They continued walking in silence. They had been following the car all night and the sun was starting to rise, tinting the skies a rosy pink.

Toph stumbled, falling into Sokka. “Hey, watch it!” He cried out.

“I can’t see anything in this stupid snow! And my feet are freezing!” Toph complained. She pointed at Zuko. “Sparky, carry me!”

Zuko sighed, a small flame escaping his mouth, but crouched down, letting her climb on his back.

“So, who was that guy?” Sokka asked, attempting to break the silence.

“He looked pretty important, plus he’s clearly a skilled waterbender. Probably some kind of ambassador, or other government official,” Zuko speculated.

“But they wouldn’t appoint a bloodbender to such an important position, would they? Bloodbending’s illegal.” Katara questioned.

Zuko shrugged. “They probably didn’t know he was a bloodbender. Korra seemed pretty surprised when he bloodbent her.” He paused. “I didn’t even know you could bloodbend when it wasn’t the full moon.” He looked at Katara questioningly.

She shook her head. “He shouldn’t be able to. But…” She trailed off, unsure of where her sentence was going.

“It’s 70 years in the future. Anything could happen.” Sokka reassured her. “Metal carriages powered by lighting that can reach incredible speeds exist. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to assume that maybe this guy can bloodbend whenever he wants.”

There was a heavy silence.

“What do you think they were fighting over?” Suki asked. “Korra and the water tribe man,” She clarified, after a pause.

“Maybe it has something to do with the lack of metalbending guards? And the lack of pedestrians? If he’s an important government dude, then maybe he had something to do with it,” Toph suggested from her place on Zuko’s back.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was a curfew,” Suki noted.

“Do we know any better though?” Sokka asked.

Aang sighed. “We’re in over our heads, aren’t we.”

Sokka snorted. “Aren’t we always?”

“Guys.” Suki said, raising a hand as she furrowed her brow in concentration. The gaang stopped, eyes and ears searching for any disturbances. “The car’s coming back!” She said, panicked. “Hide, hide!”

They dove behind the treeline, holding their breath as the car drove by. They let out a sigh of relief when the car had driven far enough away.

“That was close.” Sokka whispered.

Toph hopped off of Zuko’s back. “Alright!” She cried, smacking her fist in her palm. “I’m tired of walking! Now that that guy passed us, we can travel in style!” She grinned and stomped her foot, and the earth lifted them up. “Hang on!” She cried as she pushed her arms forward. The earth suddenly shot forward, and the five other members of the Gaang screamed as the earth carried them away, Toph cackling all the while.

_____

Even with Toph’s earthbending, it still took a while to reach the end of the car tracks. But finally they had made it to a small wooden cabin, the snow gently falling around it. It almost looked peaceful, but the dull, cloudy sky from the setting sun and the knowledge of the missing Avatar tainted the scene.

They walked up to the door. Sokka jiggled the doorknob. “It’s locked,” He said, frowning.

Zuko stepped forward, pushing Sokka behind him. “Don’t worry, I’m a master firebender and an expert in stealth. I’ve got this.” He pulled on the door, then took a step back. Then, with a flaming kick, he kicked the door in.

The door crashed down, knocked off its hinges, the massive hole Zuko had left in the center still smoking. Sokka hesitantly peeked his head forward. “Huh.” He stared. “That’s one way to do it.”

They carefully stepped over the door, the floorboards creaking under their feet. The house— no, house wasn’t the right word, it was more of a shack— was empty, devoid of furniture or any personal belongings. There was a faint coating of dust on the floor, despite the shack being in surprisingly good condition. 

It was eerily silent.

“Hello?” Aang called out hesitantly, voice small. “Avatar Korra?”

There was a thud from somewhere in the shack, but no answer.

“Let’s check out the basement.” Sokka said, tone wary.

They crept down the stairs, wincing as the steps creaked. Aang looked around nervously “Anyone he-”

The six of them stared. The basement was completely empty, save for a single ceiling light illuminating a solid metal box. It was shining a bright silver, completely pristine.

“Well, what is it?” Toph demanded impatiently. “I can sense that there’s something, but my eyes don’t exactly work.”

The six of them rushed over. “It’s a big metal box. Big enough to hold a person.” Sokka said. 

“Metal?” Toph asked, but he ignored her, knocking on the locked metal door. 

“Hello? Anyone, possibly Avatar Korra, in there? We’re here to rescue you! From that bloodbender guy.”

There was silence, and then a hoarse voice. “...Rescue?”

“Korra!” Aang shouted excitedly. “We’re here to save you!”

Sokka fistpumped. “Alright! Step one, finding Korra, complete! Onto step two, breaking her out.”

“Wait.” Korra’s tone turned accusatory. “Who are you guys?”

There was silence as the six of them looked at each other guiltily.

“There’s no way. If you guys are actually those six fucking kids, I swear-”

“Welp!” Sokka clapped his hands. “Let’s focus on actually getting Avatar Korra out of this nice shiny box.”

Inside, Korra groaned.

“Alright To-uuuuhhhh person, metalbend away!” Sokka gestured to the box.

Korra sighed. “That won’t work.”

“What? Why?” Sokka spluttered.

“It’s platinum. Purified metal. There’s no earth to bend.”

“She’s right.” Toph said, hand pressed against the metal. “I can’t feel anything. It’s a giant hunk of nothing.”

“Uh, ok.” Sokka said nervously. “Maybe, uh, certain members of our party could firebend or waterbend it? Or maybe we could slam a giant rock against it and bust it open?”

At that, Korra scoffed. “You think I haven’t already tried that?” 

“Well, you’re weak and tired since you’ve been trapped in a box with no food and water all day.” Katara retorted, summoning a water whip. Next to her, Zuko’s fists started smoking. 

They began attacking the box, but after a few attempts, it was clear that it wasn't having an effect. The box looked the same as it did before, not a scratch or burn mark to be seen.

“I could try melting the lock,” Zuko offered.

“Yeah, that won’t work. Do you know how high the melting point of platinum is?” There was a sigh, and a dull thud, like someone hitting their head against a wall. “The only way this box is opening up is if you have the key. And that’s with Tarrlok.”

“Tarrlok?” Toph asked.

“The guy who kidnapped me? Older water tribe guy, scary bloodbender?” There was silence. “Did you really see some random guy bloodbend the Avatar and then immediately go after him knowing nothing about his capabilities?”   
  


“Well, we know he’s a bloodbender. So he’s a super strong waterbender.” Aang added after a pause.

There was the sound of Korra shifting around, and then a muffled scream. “This is fine,” she muttered.

“Guys?” Toph said nervously, toes curling against the basement floor. “A car just pulled up.”

“Hide, hide!” Korra said frantically. The gaang, actually having some common sense for once and also not willing to go up against a bloodbender, managed to hide themselves under the staircase, barely out of sight as the stairs creaked above them.

“My life is a disaster now thanks to you,” Tarrlok said, voice dripping with rage.

“So your little bloodbending secret’s out?” Korra said smugly.

He only growled angrily in response. He started to walk away, then suddenly turned around. “Who broke into the house while I was gone?”

“What makes you think there was a break in? Wouldn’t I be gone if there was?”

Tarrlok snarled. “The door was kicked down with a massive hole in it!”

Oops. Maybe brute force actually  _ wasn’t _ always the best solution.

“What, you think it was me? I’ve been trapped in this stupid box the whole time.” Korra retorted.

Tarrlok snarled again. “I won’t ask again. Who broke into the house?”

There was no answer. He slammed his fist against the metal box. “Answer me!”

“I don’t know, and even if I did I wouldn’t tell you,” Korra retorted angrily.

Tarrlok shouted in frustration. “You’ve ruined everything! All of my plans, worthless because of you.”

“Tarrlok, the jig is up, and you have nowhere to go.” Korra smirked.

His voice turned cruel, calculating. “Oh, no.” He began climbing up the stairs. “No, I’ll escape, and start a new life.” He paused. “And you’re coming as my hostage.”

Korra shouted, banging uselessly on the metal. “You’ll never get away with this!” She cried out vainly.

The steps creaked as he climbed upwards, then suddenly stopped. Tarrlok’s tone was… surprised, to say the least. “Amon!”

“It is time for you to be Equalized.”

As the sound of a fight began upstairs, the Gaang looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They could run, but Amon and his Equalizers were right upstairs, and Korra was still trapped.

“Any ideas?” Suki whispered. Sokka shook his head. Above them, the fighting stopped. Tarrlok screamed, and there was a thud.

“I’ll take care of him. You four retrieve the Avatar.” Amon said. “Do not underestimate her. Electrocute the box to knock her out before you open it.”

“My pleasure.”

Grunts of affirmation, then the creaking of floorboards as the Lieutenant, followed by three Equalizers, walked down the stairs. 

“It’s payback time.”

Before the Gaang could react, he flipped his kali sticks, sparking with electricity, then thrust them forward, electrocuting the box. Korra cried out in pain, her cries growing fainter before they completely stopped. The lightbulb illuminating her shattered., plunging the room into darkness.

“Ok,” Sokka whispered. “When he opens the box, we run out and grab her. Then, we run. Or fight. Whatever gets us out of here.” They nodded in agreement, shifting into place.

“Open the box.”

The door creaked open, revealing Korra, limp on the floor. Toph lifted up a hand, brows furrowed in concentration. “Something’s not right.”

“Tie her up.” The Equalists nodded, and moved forward, but were blown back by a massive blast of fire. Korra sprinted through the flames, dodging an Equalist’s attack and sending out a massive wave of earth with her fist, knocking the other Equalizers down. 

“Run, run!” She cried out, gesturing at the Gaang, who quickly followed. They sprinted up the stairs and through the house, the floorboards creaking under their feet, and Korra ran out the doorway into the cold.

She suddenly stopped, the snow falling around her as she stared at Amon, who stood by the same car Tarrlok had been driving earlier. He looked at her, and stepped forward.

“Korra, wha-” Sokka stopped, the rest of the Gaang behind him as they spotted Amon. “Shit.”

She thrust her arms forward, sending out a giant wave of snow towards Amon. It sharpened into icicles as they landed around him, oddly reminiscent of Katara. “Go, go!” She cried out at the Gaang, and they quickly took off after her as Amon chased them. 

She leapt off the top of the hill, pushing her arms back and sledding through the snow with her bending. Katara quickly made a large ice platform under the six of them and pushed it forward, right on Korra’s heels as the seven of them sledded away from Amon.

_____

They sledded forward, following Korra as she skidded around obstacles before tripping over a root, flying forward and slamming straight into a tree.

Katara lifted her arms up, their makeshift ice sled slowing to a stop, before running over to the teen. She was barely moving, the only motion her shivers.

“Korra!” Katara fell to her knees, already bending water to heal Korra’s various cuts and bruises. “Hey, don’t pass out!”

Korra faintly groaned in response.

Zuko exhaled, pressing his arms downwards, and the entire area heated up around them. 

“Mm. Just gonna close my eyes for a little bit…” Korra mumbled.

Katara slapped her arm. “No sleeping!” Korra yelped, glaring weakly at Katara as she rubbed her arm.

Korra squinted, looking at something behind them. “Is that…?”

The gaang turned to see a massive polar bear dog bounding towards them, tongue sticking out as she panted. The gaang shrieked, dodging out of the way as the polar bear dog sprinted towards Korra.

“Naga!”

The polar bear dog, apparently named Naga, started licking Korra, who cuddled her back. “Good girl.”

“Oh.” Katara brushed the snow off her dress, looking shaken. “She’s yours.”

Korra grinned, still slumped against Naga’s side. “Yep. Had her since she was a cub.”

Sokka raised a brow. “You’re lucky she didn’t eat you or something.”

She shrugged. “Naga would never hurt me. Would you girl?” She started scratching a spot under Naga’s ear, and the polar bear dog practically melted. “Oh, you’re such a good girl, you came all this way...”

Toph shivered, and her stomach growled. Loudly. “Hate to break it up, but I’m freezing. I don’t have shoes. Also I’m starving, because bending all of you took a  _ lot _ of work.”

Katara turned her attention to the younger girl. “Oh, your feet!” She ran water over them, and Toph shivered. “There isn’t too much damage right now, but we’re gonna need to keep them warm or you’ll get frostbite. Zu-uhh, Lee, here, is keeping us all warm, but I don’t think you should be walking in the snow barefoot anytime soon.”

“Got it, Sugar Queen,” Toph mumbled, rolling her eyes despite not being able to see. “Do we have any food, by chance? No one here has eaten in a while.”

Everyone frowned, patting their pockets and turning up empty. 

“Wait!” Zuko said, pulling out a paper bag that was somehow (miraculously) still intact despite all the shit it had gone through. “I still have our takeout from the noodle place!”

Sokka fistpumped, and the rest of the gaang, plus Korra, cheered. “Food!” Sokka cried in delight.

Zuko began heating up the food and distributing it, and everyone sat down to eat. Katara bent the snow, forming an icy dome that kept out the chill and kept in the heat. Korra, Toph, and Aang leaned up against Naga as they ate, while the others huddled nearby. Thankfully, they were provided with proper utensils, and didn’t have to eat noodles with their hands.

“So,” Korra said around a mouthful of noodles. “What’s exactly the story here? How did this— ” she gestured to the seven of them eating noodles in the middle of a snowy mountain after a kidnapping “—happen?” Korra had managed to gain some energy from the healing, food, and rest, but was still clearly exhausted, practically sinking into Naga’s fur.

“Well,” Toph began, “We were walking, and the idiot over here—” she pointed at Aang, who stuck out his tongue in return“—saw a mystery figure breaking into some big fancy building, and we were just like, let’s go follow them! So we entered in the middle of that whole bloodbending thing, and then we decided to go after you, and now we’re here.”

Korra stared at her. “When you saw the Avatar being bloodbended, your first instinct was to follow the guy who did it? Not to, I don’t know, go find someone who would help?”

Sokka shrugged. “We could have, buuut, everyone keeps trying to capture us. Plus, the trail would have gone cold!”

Korra sighed, and took a large slurp of her noodles. “How did you even catch up with us? It’s not like you have a car, and I heard about the last time one of you was behind the wheel.” At that, Sokka awkwardly coughed, not meeting her gaze as the others stared at him.

“We just followed you with bending. It wasn’t hard.” Toph said casually as she took a bite of her noodles.

“Thats,— what,—how?” Korra sputtered. “Who the fuck even are you kids? You’re like, elite bending and combat masters, and you’re all like twelve.”

Zuko raised a hand. “I’m sixteen.”

Korra stared at him in disbelief. “You’re sixteen? No way, that’s bullshit. I’m seventeen, and you’re practically a shrimp in comparison. And he’s the tallest out of the six of you!”

Zuko leaned forward, sparks flying from his mouth. “I’m not short!”

“Woah Sparky, let’s calm down a bit, huh? Maybe  _ not  _ firebend in the nice cozy ice dome,” Toph waved a hand in his general direction.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” Korra interrupted. “If you guys broke me out just to kidnap me for yourselves-“

“We wouldn't do that!” Katara interrupted. “We’re just, uh, from out of town?” That excuse had worked with everyone else, why not her?

Korra glared at her, unamused. “I will fight you all if that’s what it comes down to. Answer the question.”

Suki leaned forward. “Relax. We don’t want to hurt you, and honestly, you’re a bit too weak to fight us right now anyways.” When Korra leaned back, still glaring, Suki smiled. “Great! As for your question, we’re a group of highly elite masters, who just want to protect the world.” Her smile turned sad. “Honestly? We just got stuck here, and we’re trying to find a way to get back home.”

A melancholy mood permeated the air as Korra looked at them sadly.

“But enough about us? What about you?” Aang asked, breaking the silence. “Can you, uh, talk to your past lives? Like maybe, Avatar Aang? And maybe ask him about-oof!” He was cut off by a sharp elbow from Toph. 

Korra stared at him, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Is that why you rescued me? So you could get a chance to talk to Aang?”

Aang visibly wilted. “It’s not like that-“

“Well joke’s on you kid, I can’t talk to him anyways. All I get is some stupid spirit visions about Yakone!” Korra shouted, gesturing angrily.

The room went quiet. Aang nervously took a sip of his broth. Katara sighed. “We didn’t mean it like that.”

“Oh?” Korra scowled. “How did you mean it, then? Because it seems to me like you just want to use me, just like Tarrlok did.”

Katara bit her lip, thinking about what to say. “We didn’t rescue you because we wanted to take advantage of you,” she began to explain, “We rescued you because you were in danger, and we wanted to help. Because it was the right thing to do.”

Korra leaned back into Naga’s fur, letting out a long groan as she buried her face into her hands. Eventually she sighed, letting her hands fall into her lap. “Thank you. For saving me.”

“No problem!” Aang beamed.

“What exactly is  your guy’s problem anyways? I can try to help you get unstuck. Is it blackmail? Is there someone forcing you to be here? As the Avatar, I have a lot of influence, and a lot of allies.”

The gaang looked at each other awkwardly, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, Suki spoke up. “It’s… a Spirit World thing.” At that, Korra groaned. “We were trying to see if we could talk to Avatar Aang about it because he might know how to deal with it, but it was kind of a long shot anyways. And you said you can’t really talk to him, so…” 

Korra nodded sadly. “Oh. I’d try to help, but I’m really bad at spirit stuff.” She brought up her noodle bowl and loudly slurped the last of the noodles and broth, smacking her lips as she finished. “We should probably head back to Republic City now. They’re probably looking for me, since I got kidnapped.”

Katara awkwardly laughed. “Y’know, I kind of forgot about that.” She stood up, stretching her legs. “Korra, To-uh, you,” she pointed at Toph, “You should ride Naga. You,” She pointed at Korra, “because you’re still injured and malnourished and who knows what else from being kidnapped and shoved in a metal box for a whole day, and you,” she said pointing at Toph, “because you don’t have shoes and I don’t want you to get frostbite. Everyone else has to suck it up and walk.” Her last statement was met with halfhearted groans.

Korra and Toph were helped onto Naga, and everyone else was standing up, all ready to go. “We ready?” Katara asked, and they all nodded. “Alright.” She shoved her arms down, the icy dome folding back down into the snow and exposing them to the chill. They shivered, and Zuko let out a breath and heated up the area, although it wasn’t as warm as before.

“Let’s go.” And with that, they set off, letting Naga take the lead as they walked into the snowy night.

_____

Walking back had taken a while, especially since they couldn’t use bending with Korra still being injured. They had tried to pass the time by talking, but even with the food and rest Korra was still exhausted, and had passed out on Naga’s back some time ago. But they had managed to make it to the city, the six of them walking besides Naga. Toph had climbed off when they made it down the mountain, and now the six of them were walking down the empty streets.

“Hey Korra,” Sokka whispered, nudging her awake. Korra groaned, blinking at him through sleep lidded eyes. “We’re here. Where should we drop you off?”

“Wha?” Korra mumbed.

Sokka waved his arm at the empty street. “Republic City. Where do you live? Do you have a house, or should we just drop you off by the police office…?”

“Oh!” Korra sat up, only swaying a little bit. “Uh. Just follow Naga? I’m staying at Air Temple Island, but my friends are probably out looking for me…”

Sokka shrugged, and they continued walking. The streets were empty, the only signs of life being the occasional light from a window and the blimps soaring nearby, floodlights shining down onto the streets.

“Hey, there’s a blimp right there!” Korra sat up straight and started waving as it flew towards them.

“Oh shit, hide, hide!” Suki hissed, and the six of them shoved Korra and Naga into an alleyway, hunching down as the floodlight passed right by them.

Korra turned to them, glaring, as the blimp flew away. “What was that? Those guys would have helped me!”

“Yeah, you.” Toph said, frowning. “We, on the other hand, are ‘dangerous criminals’ and if we showed up with the Avatar after she went missing, they’ll probably assume we kidnapped you.”

Katara awkwardly grinned. “We can just drop you off somewhere, and then we won’t be involved!”

“But, I can help you!” Korra protested. “If you come back with me, we could try to help you out! I could ask Tenzin, he’s good with spirit world stuff, he could probably fix your problem-”

Sokka raised a hand, cutting her off. “I just don’t know if that’s the best idea. Look, how about we just walk you home, and then figure it out from there?”

“Hmph.” Korra grunted, but nodded, slumping back into the saddle. She patted Naga’s flank, and the polar bear dog began walking again, the gaang awkwardly trailing behind.

They continued walking down the street, thankfully avoiding any blimps, until Naga came to a stop in the middle of a large plaza. She started sniffing the ground and pawing it, whining frantically.

“What? What is it, girl?” Korra whispered. Naga only whined in response.

Toph stomped her foot and scrunched up her nose in concentration. “Shit.”

“What’s shit?” Sokka asked her frantically.

Beneath them, the ground started rumbling.

“Back away, back away!” Toph shrieked, and the seven (eight, including Naga) of them scrambled back as the ground erupted. Lin Beifong, the airbender from before, and three teenagers leapt out. 

“You kids!” Lin said indignantly, pointing a finger accusingly at the gaang. The gaang, on their part, slowly began backing away.

Metalbending police began moving out from behind the nearby buildings, surrounding the Gaang as they backed up against a building. Overhead, the blimps had all gathered, shining their floodlights right onto the six kids. “The six of you are under arrest for kidnapping the Avatar!” A voice boomed over a set of speakers.

Korra just waved at the teens, smiling cheerfully. “Hi guys!”

In the distance, there was the faint yet familiar sound of Sokka smacking his forehead.

“Surrender now, or we will have to use force!” The voice said again, and the six of them frantically looked around, trying to figure out a solution to their predicament. 

“Hey.” Zuko nudged Aang. “Remember Pohai Stronghold?” 

“Yeah?” Aang whispered back.

“Good.”

“Wha-”   
  


Quick as a flash, Zuko’s swords were crossed around Korra’s throat. It was honestly impressive, considering that Korra had a good four inches on him, and she was also sitting on Naga’s back. Zuko, for his part, was awkwardly standing on Naga’s butt, trying very hard to look menacing. Naga, despite easily being able to knock him off, did nothing.

Naga, Zuko decided, was absolutely wonderful.

“Sorry about this.” Zuko sheepishly whispered to Korra.

“I  _ was _ going to try to say that you helped me escape so you wouldn’t get arrested, but I guess that’s out the window,” she muttered in response, scowling.

“Let us leave peacefully, and the Avatar will be fine!” Sokka shouted, and the officers took a step back, murmuring amongst themselves.

“Can we please take a minute to appreciate the absurdity of what is happening here? Us, of all people, being accused of kidnapping the Avatar?” Toph said under her breath, Katara and Aang giggling in response.

Lin stepped forward, settling into a fighting stance. “You six kids have been causing destruction, disrupting lives, and general chaos. Well, that stops here. This is your last chance. You’re outnumbered both in size and strength. Surrender, now!”

Zuko scowled at Korra. “The whole point of threatening you was so we wouldn’t have to fight!”   


“Then maybe you shouldn’t have threatened me, idiots!” Korra retorted.

Zuko just groaned. “Fuck!”   


“Sorry Chief, but we aren’t doing jack shit!” Toph screamed back at the Chief, since no one else had, and then all hell broke loose.

One of the teens from before (Bolin? Bolin!) stomped his foot, sending a wave of earth towards them. At the same time, Lin and the other metal benders shot cables forward.

“SCATTER!” Sokka shrieked, and the six of them bolted, the metalbenders and the three teens chasing after them, completely emptying the plaza.

Korra blinked at Tenzin, the only other person who had stayed behind. “Would you believe me if I said that they actually helped me escape?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again another short one, but next chapter is gonna be MASSIVE, I always write better when it's non Canon compliant and vaguely outlined ;)
> 
> yes i am a believer of that one theory that says zuko is 5’3 and korra is 5’7 bc the mentall image of zuko the tallest of the gaang being tiny in comparison to korra the shortest of the krew is HILARIOUS
> 
> hope u imagined that last line w/ sokka in a john mulaney voice
> 
> go drink or eat something, don't forget ur meds and have a safe night/day, I love y'all! :)


	8. Alright Gaang, Let’s Split Up And Look For Clues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi darlings! midterms and other schoolwork have been killing me, but I’m not dead yet!
> 
> ur comments have all been so lovely and wonderful and motivating me and I’m sorry for not responding bc I never know what to say but I do read all of them and appreciate them!
> 
> and at that one commenter who said Lin isn’t Chief at this point in canon,,, shhh it’s my canon and I do what I want and I definitely didn’t forget about that heheh
> 
> Oh! [Here’s ](https://watery-melon-baller.tumblr.com/post/640507876404854784/holy-fuck-this-is-just-chefs-kiss-perfect-these) some beautiful fan art by @whywouldisayprinter on tumblr go check it out bc it has me CACKLING
> 
> this ones a doozy so I hope y’all enjoy!

Katara sprinted across the road, her feet hitting the hard pavement as she ran. Everything had been going so well, too!

Well, as well as things could go for them.

One minute they were attempting to deliver the current Avatar back to her friends, the next minute Sokka was yelling and the six of them had split up, metal benders hot on her heels.

She chanced a look behind her and yelped as a metal cable sailed over her head. Running past a fountain, she bent the water out and sent it washing behind her in a wave, then froze it. 

Behind her, she could hear shouts and curses as the metalbenders slipped and skidded over the ice. She allowed herself a small smirk, but didn’t dare stop running. Those blimps were still after her, and she needed to find the others. Not to mention the fact that she was still exhausted from spending the entire day searching for Korra. 

She ducked into an alleyway, taking the opportunity to catch her breath as she braced her hand against the wall. Thankfully, she had somehow managed to lose her pursuers, but the six of them needed to regroup. On that first day, where had Sokka said he wanted to meet up?

She snapped her fingers. “Aang’s statue!” she said, despite no one being around to hear her. She cautiously stuck her head out of the alleyway, looking for any metalbenders, but thankfully the streets were empty. Nodding to herself, she dashed back into the open, eyes never leaving Aang’s statue. 

She had managed to run down a few empty streets when she heard the sounds of earthbending and heavy footsteps. She turned to see Suki sprinting towards her, a group of metalbenders after her, the Chief of Police and the earthbender teen from earlier in the lead.

Suki calmly waved as she ran.

Katara stared in disbelief as Suki ran up to her, grabbing Katara’s arm and tugging the waterbender along. “Hey Katara, good to see you, but there’s a bunch of metalbenders after us so we should probably run.” Katara nodded, sprinting alongside her.

“Sokka said to meet up at Aang’s statue!” Katara panted as she ran, sending another wave from a nearby fountain crashing behind her. Suki nodded, then pulled her down a random street. From above, the blimp’s spotlight focused on them, illuminating the duo.

The two of them dashed around corners and through streets, trying to lose their pursuers. Eventually, they reached the docks, panting hard. The docks looked a tad destroyed, with a few scorch marks and misshapen sections of pavement, but she paid it no mind. Katara took a deep breath and stepped towards the water, arms raising as she prepared to bend them across, but was interrupted by a metal cable zooming towards her. Suki grabbed her, tugging her aside just in time as the cable narrowly missed, splashing into the water below.

They turned, seeing that unfortunately their pursuers had managed to catch up with them. The blimp was still hovering above, demanding for them to surrender, but they ignored it. For a moment, no one moved. Then, the earthbender teen (Bolin? She wasn’t sure) stepped forward, stomping his foot and sending a boulder flying towards them. From there, it was chaos.

Katara thrust her arms out and sent a blast of water forward, pushing back several metalbenders. Out of the corner of her eye, she could spot Suki dodging between them, letting them get tangled with their own metal cables. Unfortunately, their armour prevented them from being chi blocked. Katara scowled, turning back to the metalbenders surrounding her, and focused on an octopus form. She lunged at them with the water tentacles, sending a few flying. The others stepped back wary. One brave metalbender shot a cable towards her, but she simply froze the water as it passed though. 

With an irritated huff, she shoved her hands down, sending the water pushing out around her and carrying the bender away. Turning back to Suki, she let loose a giant water whip, smacking the other girl’s opponent. Suki turned back to her and smiled, giving her a thumbs up, and Katara couldn’t help but give one back.

Suki managed to run over to her. “We need to get out of here. I don’t have any weapons to fight with, and hand to hand combat doesn’t work so well on armour.” Katara nodded in agreement. She was tiring, her bending slower and weaker than normal. She turned back to the docks, but was interrupted by a chunk of earth sailing over her head. The two girls turned to see the Chief and the earthbending teen. (She was almost certain his name was Bolin.) Behind them, the other metalbenders were groaning, starting to get up.

“Fuck,” Katara let herself mutter under her breath, shifting into a fighting stance.

Bolin shifted forward and thrust his arm up, the earth rumbling underneath them as a spike of sidewalk was pushed towards them. Katara yelped, sidestepping and ducking under a metal cable, falling to the ground as she did so. Reaching toward the water, she pulled a water whip into her hand, and she struck it out towards the two benders. She could hear Bolin yelp as he dodged out of the way. 

She rolled to her feet, sending a spike of ice towards Lin as the metalbender turned towards her. Lin dodged, letting the ice spike sail past her and shatter harmlessly against a wall. Katara raised her arms and pushed forward, sending twin currents of water towards Lin, propelling the metalbender into the wall, where the water froze into place. 

Satisfied, she turned back to Suki, who was fighting Bolin. Despite being an earthbender, he was surprisingly agile, managing to dodge around Suki’s attacks. Suki swept her leg out and Bolin toppled to the ground, where he quickly pushed Suki away with a wall of earth as he clambered to his feet.

Katara swept her arm in front of her, pushing Bolin back down with a wave of water, and ran over to Suki, who was looking a bit dazed as she rubbed her head. Katara grabbed Suki’s arm, helping the other girl up, and the two of them turned back to Bolin, who was standing in a fighting stance, clothes soaked. With a twist of her hand, the water under the earthbender froze, and he slipped, landing on his butt. He whimpered as Suki approached him. “Uh, please don’t hurt me?”

In response, Suki jabbed forward, chi blocking one of his arms, but he kicked forward, sending Suki staggering back. Bolin pushed himself to his feet, one arm dangling uselessly by his side. He shouted, charging towards them, but slipped on the ice and fell back onto the ground. 

“Alright, let’s go,” Katara said, stepping towards the water. She raised her arms, finally ready to get out of here, when she was shoved to the ground hard. She looked up to find Suki above her, a metal cable wrapped around her wrist. Katara followed the cable to see it leading back to Lin, who had managed to break free of the melted ice.

Katara shot her a panicked look, pulling up a water whip to break the cable, but Suki stopped her. “Katara go, I’ll be fine!” She dug her knife out of her pocket, the one she had bought at the museum, and hurled it at a metalbender who had gotten too close. All around them, the metalbenders were beginning to get up. Suki pushed Katara towards the water. “Go!”

Katara nodded, stepping back and turning towards the water. She quickly dodged a cable and leapt off the docks, riding on top of the waves as she surfed away. She looked back to see that Suki had been completely surrounded, the blimp focused on her. Katara sighed, and turned back to Aang’s statue, determined to bust Suki out once she had been reunited with the others.

_____

In retrospect, maybe threatening the Avatar after she had been kidnapped hadn’t been the best thing to do.

“I should have listened to Uncle more,” Zuko muttered under his breath, glancing behind him as he ran. The fire nation girl from earlier, along with a large group of metalbenders, were chasing him. And he also had no idea where he was. Great. 

He could fight, but he was still pretty tired from the series of events leading up to his current situation. The noodles had helped, but they could only do so much. Firebending took a lot of energy, and he was pretty exhausted. 

He scowled, looking around for anything that could possibly help him, ignoring the shouts behind him. Seeing a ladder, he quickly scrambled up it and began parkouring across the rooftops, the wind whipping past him. Behind him, he could hear the zipping of metal cables as they grappled up after him. Shit.

He ran across the roof, eyes scanning the street below. “Holy fucking shit,” he muttered in disbelief, spotting a familiar figure in the streets below. It was a miracle that stupidly floppy pink hat hadn’t fallen off by now. He took a running leap off the rooftop, landing next to a sprinting Aang, who looked stupidly cheerful while running from the cops.

“Oh hi Zuko!” He said cheerfully, grabbing Zuko’s arm. “Those metalbender guys are really mad.”

“Are you using your airbending?” Zuko asked, feeling his speed increase as Aang tugged him along. Aang only gave a sheepish look in response, and Zuko sighed. He wasn’t going to complain about being able to run away faster.

“So… do you have a destination in mind?” Zuko asked, ignoring the metal cables flying their way. Aang’s face scrunched up for a moment as he thought. 

“Hmmm…” His face suddenly lit up. “Oh, I know! Air temple island!”

“Aang, wha- no!” Zuko shouted, but it was useless as the wind picked up and they ran even faster. “Aang, we can’t just-” Aang pouted at him, and Zuko felt his resolve crumble. “Ugh, fine, but this is still a terrible idea,” he muttered, ignoring Aang’s grin.

The two of them dashed around a corner, unfortunately coming face to face with their pursuers. The fire nation girl stepped forward, glove crackling menacingly. 

“Uh, hello guys!” Aang chirped nervously. “We don’t want any trouble!”

In response, several metal cables zoomed towards them.

“Shit!” Zuko hissed as he sent a jet of flame towards the fire nation girl, who had charged towards him. Beside him Aang smacked away a cable with his staff. 

Aang zoomed over to him. “Zuko, I’ve got a plan. Be prepared to run.” He whispered. Zuko opened his mouth to question what exactly his plan was, but was never able to ask.

“HEY EVERYBODY!” Aang shouted, waving his arms to get everyone's attention. Everyone stopped and turned to him. “IS THAT AMON?” He pointed down a random street.

Somehow, all of the metalbenders fell for it and turned their heads to look. Zuko could only stare in disbelief as Aang grabbed his arm and sprinted away. As they ducked into an alleyway, they could hear angry shouts as the metalbenders realized the duo had managed to escape. They silently pressed themselves against the rough alley wall, holding their breath as the metalbenders ran right past them, their footsteps fading away into the distance.

After a moment, Aang let go of Zuko’s arm, taking a moment to adjust his hat. “Phew!” he said, wiping his forehead with his hand. “That was a close one!”

Zuko crossed his arms, staring in disbelief. “There is no way that should have worked.”

Aang just grinned at him. “Well, anything can happen in the- WAH!” The boy shrieked as he barely managed to dodge the fire nation girl from earlier, her gauntlet skimming Aang’s shirt. How did neither of them notice her before? 

Aang took a step back, readying his staff as he moved closer to Zuko. The girl flipped her hair and smirked. “Believe it or not, I’m not as dumb as I look.” Then with a cry, she charged forward again, glove sparking with electricity. 

The two boys dove to the side, letting her pass in the middle of them. The girl turned back towards Aang, who deflected her glove with his staff. “Can’t we just be friends?” the boy asked hopefully. The teen just glared at him, sweeping her leg and tripping him to the ground. 

Zuko sent a bolt of fire towards her, and she quickly sidestepped it before turning back to Aang, who was climbing to his feet. She lunged forward, and Aang yelped as he dodged her, slamming into Zuko and knocking both of them to the ground. Zuko groaned as the fire nation teen stood over them, glove crackling as she smirked.

Aang looked at him frantically. “Do that thing you did back at the area!” He hissed. Zuko stared in confusion. “Do what- oh!” As she reached forward, Zuko grabbed her wrist and _focused_ , the glove sparking under his hand. She stumbled back, shouting in pain as she ripped the glove off. 

She shook her wrist, glaring at him, and stepped forward when there was a loud _crack_. She fell to the ground, unconscious. Behind her stood Aang, his staff hovering over her. How he had managed to get behind her with no one noticing, Zuko had no idea He looked over at Zuko, grinning.

“Can we go to Air Temple Island now?”

Zuko only groaned. “ _Fine_.”

_____

Sokka was not having a good day. 

First chasing after an Avatar, now being chased by metalbenders? What was next? Was Amon going to pop out of an alleyway with his creepy chi-blockers and go after them too?

This ‘vacation’ was NOT fun.

He was startled out of his thoughts when the earth began rumbling beneath him. Right, the cops. Luckily, he and Toph had managed to run in the same direction, and Toph was doing an excellent job of slowing those metalbenders down. 

“Snoozles, what are you doing just standing there? C’mon, let's GO!” Toph shouted, wrenching his arm. He yelped, glaring at the small girl, but began running. Behind them, the metalbenders groaned as they began to get up.

The two of them ran across the road, Sokka tugging Toph around a corner. “We need to meet up at the Aang statue. I don’t know if anyone else remembers, but it’s better if we all wait in one place.” Toph nodded in agreement, stomping and sending a wave of earth behind them.

Sokka continued running in the general direction of the statue, occasionally going down random side streets in an attempt to shake off anyone following them. It seemed that they had managed to lose their pursuers a while back, because there was no one following them. Still wary, they kept running, although they did take the opportunity to slow down.

Eventually, they made it to the docks, taking a moment to stop and rest. It was still nighttime, the Aang statue standing out against the darkness. Beneath them the waves crashed, the water pitch black. A cold gust of wind blew by, and the duo shivered in unison. 

“So, any bright ideas on exactly how we’re supposed to get to the Aang statue?” Toph asked. “I can’t exactly see where it is, and neither of us can bend our way over to it.”

Sokka stared at the Aang statue as he tried to process what Toph had just said. Then, after a few moments, he smacked his forehead. “Shit. I’m an idiot,” he muttered.

“Yup, that we can both agree on. But that doesn’t solve our problem, so come up with a plan already!” Toph shouted, waving her arms at him. 

Sokka nodded. “Right, plan guy. Make a plan...” He scanned the area, looking for anything they could possibly use. He stopped, pointing to a small motorboat. “Aha! Boat!”  
  


“Awesome. Now let’s GO!” Toph said, running towards the boat. She suddenly stopped, turning her head. “Someone’s coming. Hide!”

The two of them quickly dove behind a metal crate, peeking around the side as they watched a figure run out of the street, slowing down as he entered the docks. He settled into a fighting stance, eyes carefully scanning the area, looking for something. Or someone. Or two someones, named Sokka and Toph.

“Woah Snoozles, your heart just went crazy. Who’s the guy?” Toph whispered. She smirked. “Is he hot?”

“Wha- no!” Sokka spluttered. “Maybe like a little, but he’s Fire Nation! So.”

Toph grinned like a maniac. “Ooooh, someones got a crush! I guess you just have a thing for pretty fire nation boys, huh?” 

Sokka screeched indignantly, shoving her away. “Shut it!”

Unfortunately, just because they had forgotten they were hiding from a firebener didn’t mean he had forgotten about them. “Shit!” Toph hissed as a blast of fire came their way, Sokka barely pulling both of them out of the way in time. She thrust an arm towards the firebender, (What was his name? Marker? Something with an M) and he quickly dodged the earth spikes heading his way. He spun back, kicking another blast of fire at them. 

Shit.

“Wall!” He shouted and Toph pulled up an earth wall not a moment too soon. He quickly turned to Toph. “Ok, you distract him. I’ll get him from behind.”

“Uh, Snoozles, I don’t know if you forgot, but I’m _blind_ . I can’t exactly _see_ fire.”

Sokka grimaced. “Shit. Uh, just disorient him so he can’t attack? I’ll warn you if he tries something.”

Toph snorted. “Great, I feel so much- ah!” Their wall exploded, a massive ball of fire raging over their heads.

Toph turned to (Maker? Marko? Mako!) and grinned. “Hey pretty boy!”

Mako, or Pretty Boy as dubbed by Toph, seemed very confused. “Wha-?” He stuttered. 

“Watch THIS!” She stomped her foot, sending out a wave of earth. Mako yelped, barely managing to stay standing, and quickly shot a bolt of fire back. But Toph had already moved, appearing behind him and sending a large boulder flying towards him. He ducked under it and rolled to his feet in front of Toph. Mako quickly shot up with a flaming fist, Toph barely stumbling back in time as she shrieked.

She scowled as she backed away, and she stomped, determined not to be caught off guard. A line of earth shot towards Mako, who dodged it and sent a fire lash her way. “DUCK!” Sokka screamed and Toph bent down, the fire lash whipping around over her head. Mako quickly punched forward, Toph steadily backing away. She quickly lifted up an earth wall and pushed it forward, sending the fire bender flying back. 

Sokka coughed as dust filled the air, trying to find the two benders. He squinted over to where he saw Mako land and saw a figure push himself up, groaning. Behind him, Toph was grinning. “Is that all you’ve got pretty boy?” She taunted, sticking out her tongue. In return Mako scowled, a bolt of flame flying their way. Sokka quickly tugged her out of the way, watching as Mako began advancing. He sent a barrage of flames and Sokka quickly rolled out of the way, watching as Toph lifted up yet another wall of earth. She focused and pushed her arms forward and the earthen wall quickly transformed into rock spikes, flying straight towards the firebender. Mako grunted, dodging to the side, but not fast enough as a shard of rock caught his shoulder. Toph cackled, advancing on the fire bender, and Sokka watched as he turned his gaze towards Sokka. Wait, what?

He yelped as the firebender ran towards him, spinning at him with a flaming kick. Sokka yelped as he backed up, quickly pulling out his boomerang. He could hear Toph shouting behind them, but he ignored her, focusing on Mako instead. 

“Hey pretty boy, take a look at this!” He threw his boomerang, ignoring how his face was heating because maybe Toph was a little right when she said Mako was hot. Mako dodged the boomerang with ease and the two of them watched it sail away into the night sky. He turned back to Sokka, confusion evident on his broody face. Were all fire nation guys broody, or was it just firebenders who were friends with the Avatar?

“You missed.”

Sokka grinned. “No I didn’t.”

“Wha-”

There was a loud _thunk_ as the boomerang slammed into the poor guys skull and he swayed, clearly trying to stay upright, before collapsing onto the sidewalk.

Toph walked over to him, grinning like a maniac. “You called him pretty boy!” She said, uncharacteristically cheerful. 

Sokka flushed, ignoring the way his heart was pounding in his chest. “Maybe I did. Can’t a guy appreciate another guy?”

Toph punched his shoulder gleefully. “It’s ok, I know Zuko’s prettier.”

“Wha- Toph!” He spluttered as Toph laughed. Curse her! “Cmon, lets go. We’ve got a boat to ride.”

Immediately, her face fell. “Ugh, a boat?”

Sokka grinned. “Yep!” Toph scowled as the two of them climbed in.

Thankfully, it was a surprisingly short trip, due to the ship being powered by the same thing that cars were. The power of an engine that didn’t rely on bending! They docked, shoving the boat somewhere hopefully no one would notice, and settled in to wait.

After a while of sitting and staring at Republic City (well, Sokka was staring. Toph was just lying down in the dirt.), there was what looked like… movement?

“Toph, look over there!” He shouted excitedly, pointing at the shore.

“Oh wow, look at that!” She mocked. “Wow!”

“Sorry.” He said sheepishly. “But I think I see something coming this way!”

As it got closer, it was easier to see what it was; Katara, surfing towards them.

As she landed on the shore, the two jumped up. “Katara!” Both of them shouted, pulling her into a hug.

When they pulled away, her face was serious. “They caught Suki. I barely managed to get away.”

“So what you’re saying is...” Toph was grinning, which was always a bad sign.

Katara nodded, a faint smirk on her lips.

“Jailbreak?”

“Jailbreak.”

Sokka gulped. Something told him that this wasn’t going to end well.

_____

Suki sighed, her wrists chafing against the handcuffs holding her to the table. Outside the metal interrogation room, she could hear the muffled sounds of an argument. She strained her ears, but couldn’t make anything out. She turned back to the cuffs. Unfortunately, they had thoroughly stripped her of anything that could be of use. 

Her thoughts were broken by the metal door slamming open. She looked up to see Lin Beifong and Korra enter the room. The two were loudly arguing, Lin ignoring the teen’s protests as Lin stormed over to Suki, murder in her eyes.

Suki suddenly had a very bad feeling about this.

“But Lin, she _saved_ my life-”  
  


“You!”

Lin leaned forward angrily, slamming her fist on the table. Suki purposefully did not flinch.

“You and your merry band of friends have been traipsing across the city, causing complete and utter chaos while we are dealing with a terrorist threat!” Lin snarled. “Not only have you continuously wrecked the city, but you’ve been actively involved with said terrorists, and you _kidnapped the AVATAR_!”

“Lin, I told you, they saved me! 

“I’m sure they did, which is why they had swords TO YOUR THROAT!” Lin turned to point a finger at Korra. “You shouldn’t even be here! You should be resting, because you were just _kidnapped_!”

“Lin, they’re innocent! Well, they’re innocent with the kidnapping thing. Why would they bring me back to the city if they had kidnapped me?”

“If they rescued you, then why did they immediately threaten you?”  
  


“Because our resident firebender is an idiot.”  
  


The two of them stopped, turning back to Suki, who looked a lot calmer then she felt. “He’s stupid and impulsive. We knew that if any of you saw us with the Avatar, then you would immediately arrest us without giving us the chance to explain.”

Lin glared. “And so you decided to threaten the Avatar?”

Suki shrugged. “Like I said, he’s stupid. And would you have even listened to us?”

At that, Lin fell silent. She crossed her arms, glaring at nothing in particular.

“For the record, we are sorry for all the property damage.” Suki continued. “Us being here was kind of an… impromptu vacation, and we didn't really know all the rules. We still don’t.” 

Lin closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose, and let out a long, exhausted sigh. Finally, she spoke. “Fuck.”

Korra stared at the metalbender, eyes wide. “Lin did you just-”

“Korra, later.” She stuck out a hand, shutting Korra up. She turned back to Suki, who suddenly felt very uncomfortable. “I wish I could say I don’t believe you, but unfortunately, you’re telling the truth.”

Suki let herself feel a little bit of hope. Maybe this could work out after all!  
  


...Aang must be rubbing off on her.

Lin rubbed her forehead. “From what Korra told me earlier, the six of you are here because of some sort of spirit magic?”

Suki shrugged. “It’s the only thing we can think of.”

Lin looked at her. Was that a hint of.. concern, in her eyes? “What exactly is the six of you’s deal? You’re incredibly powerful, yet seem to understand nothing about Republic City. And Korra claims you were brought here for an unknown reason, and now you can’t leave? There’s a lot here that isn’t adding up, and what we do know doesn’t spell out a pretty picture.” She sighed, leaning forward. “What’s going on? Because if the six of you are in danger, we can help. I know someone who knows a lot about spirits. And the Avatar is willing to help. So let us help you. What’s going on?”

As Suki stared into the older woman’s eyes, she vaguely noticed that Lin and Toph had the same eyes, and the same stubbornness. She could definitely see the family resemblance. 

She squeezed her hands into firsts, idly rubbing her wrists against the cuffs as her mind raced. Hiding the truth was honestly starting to do more harm than good. They had been hoping to leave the city before anyone found out the truth, much less noticed their existence, but it was a bit late for that. They were already high profile criminals; why not just spill the rest of it? Maybe Korra and her friends could actually help the six of them. It’s not like they were having any luck on their own.

Lin was apparently content to wait while Suki thought this through. She was a strategist, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. What would be the most tactical decision here?

She would have asked the rest of the Gaang what they thought, since they were supposed to be a democracy, but they weren't exactly here. And weighing the pros and cons-

She took a deep breath, exhaling as she made her decision. “Ok.”

The two women perked up, staring at her with intrigue. 

She squeezed her hands into fists again. “Ok, so this is going to sound unbelievable. But I promise I’m not lying.”

Lin nodded. “I can tell if you’re lying, so we’ll believe you.”

Suki sighed. “Ok. So basically, me and the rest of the Gaang were-”

She was cut off by the wall next to her flying inwards, smashing Korra and Lin into the wall. Sirens were wailing (and how had she not noticed that before? These rooms really were soundproof) and people were shouting. Standing in the giant doorway was Toph, hands on her hips and shit eating grin on her face. She turned to Suki, and with a flick of her wrist, undid the cuffs around Suki’s wrists.

“Hey there, _big sis_!”

“Toph,” she whispered under her breath, “what the fuck.”

_____

Aang was having a great time!

He had managed to find Zuko, the two of them had lost the metalbenders, and now they were going to Air Temple Island. With the help of an ice raft, the two of them were sailing across the water towards the island. It looked so much like the air temples it made Aang’s heart hurt. But there would be airbenders there!

He knew it was a bad idea to go see them, since they were supposed to be undercover, but he couldn’t help but be a little bit selfish. Besides, this was a vacation!

He shook his head, focusing on actually getting to the island first. He bent the water faster, ignoring Zuko’s surprised yelp. He laughed excitedly as they sped forward, watching the island get closer and closer.

“Aang, watch out-!” Zuko shouted, but his warning was a bit belated as they slammed into the rocky shore, sending them flying forward. Quickly, Aang bent an air cushion for himself, softening the blow as he fell onto the rocks and sand. Behind him, he heard a faint groan and turned around to see Zuko lying on the ground. 

“Zuko!’ He whisper-shouted, running over. He quickly pulled the other boy up, watching as Zuko winced. “Are you ok?”

Zuko waved him off. “I’m fine.” As he said this, he rubbed his arm and winced again.

Aang frowned, grabbing the other boy’s arm. “Let me see.” Ignoring Zuko’s protests, he rolled up the sleeve to reveal a deep set of gashes, bleeding profusely. Aang glared at the older boy. “Zuko!”

“Aang, it’s just a small cut. It’s not that big of a deal.” Aang ignored him, bending a small globe of water over to Zuko’s arm. He stuck out his tongue as he concentrated. He wasn’t as a good of a healer as Katara, but she had been teaching him, so he was halfway decent. The water glowed and the two of them watched as the skin knitted together, the injury disappearing as if it was never there. Aang tossed the now bloody water back into the ocean, and turned back to Zuko, who was staring at his arm, then back at Aang.

After a beat of silence, Zuko gave him a thumbs up. “Good job, on the healing. And thanks.”

Aang grinned, grabbing the other boy’s arm and dragging him over to the central building. “Let’s go see some airbenders!”

As they walked (well, Zuko was dragged along) Zuko shot him a look. “So, do you actually have a plan? Or were you just going to walk inside and tell everyone you’re an airbender?”

Aang frowned a little as he thought. “I haven’t actually thought that far ahead yet.” He stopped and turned to Zuko. “What should we do?”

“You’re asking me what to do?” Zuko asked, affronted. He stuck his arms out, waving them around. “This was your idea! I thought you had a plan!”  
  


Aang shrugged. “I didn’t think I’d actually get this far”

Zuko leaned his head back and groaned in frustration. “Do you even know who the other airbenders are? Or how many there are?”

Aang paused. “...There was that one older guy?”

“Aang!”

“Sorry! I don’t know!”

Zuko buried his face in his hands and groaned. “This is it. This is how I die. 70 years in the future, not from assassins, but from airbenders, because Aang didn’t plan ahead and they decided to kill us for trespassing.”

Aang frowned, putting his hands on his hips. “You’re being dramatic. The airbenders here wouldn’t _kill_ you!” A beat of silence. “Probably.”

“Aang!”

“Ok, new plan!” He grabbed Zuko’s arm and began dragging him again towards the main building.

“Wanna tell us exactly what your plan is?”

Aang’s smile became the slightest bit strained . “The plan is we meet the airbenders.”

“That’s not a plan!”  
  


“It is!”

“That’s an end goal! There’s no steps!”

“There are steps! The steps are we go find the airbenders and introduce ourselves!”

“If you two are trying to be sneaky, you’re absolutely _terrible_ at it.”

The two of them screamed, and Aang may or may not have jumped into Zuko’s arms. He was just startled!

Standing in front of them was a young girl, a bit younger than Aang, dressed in airbender garments. Her hair was tied in a small bun that was off to the side. Behind her were two other children dressed in similar clothing, one being a young boy with a shaved head, and the other being a young girl with two yellow coverings over her hair buns. The oldest of the three was standing in the front, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

Zuko gently set Aang down. From the look on his face, it was evident that he immediately regretted it as Aang ran over to the three kids. “Are you guys airbenders?”

“Yeah, duh!” The smaller boy retorted, hands on his hips.

“Meelo, be nice.” The older girl glared, while Meelo stuck his tongue out at her.

The younger girl leaned forward, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Hi! I’m Ikki, and my siblings are Jinora and Meelo! All three of us and my dad are airbenders! What are you guys doing here? Are you from Republic City? I don’t think you are, because you don’t look like it-”

“Ikki!”

The younger girl stopped, chastised. Jinora, the older girl, stared at Ikki for a second longer before turning her glare on the two boys, who were awkwardly standing there and watching everything go down. “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”

Zuko and Aang exchanged panicked glances. “I told you this was a bad idea!” Zuko hissed. 

Aang glared. “Well I’m sorry that-”

Jinora pointed at them angily. “Hey!”, she shouted, and the duo surprisingly shut up. “Tell us who you are and what you’re doing here or I’m going to get dad.”

“Yeah!” Meelo added. “We’re gonna get dad, and he’s gonna beat you up!” His eyes narrowed. “You better not be Equalists.”

Zuko put his hand up. “We aren’t Equalists!” He looked around nervously. “I’m, uh, Li. I’m a firebender.” He made a small flame in the palm of his hand before quickly putting it out. “And this is uh, my good friend…” His voice trailed off as he gestured to Aang, who wasn’t paying attention.

“Huh?” Zuko elbowed him, hard. “Oh! Hi! I’m Aa- er, Bonzu! Yep, that’s me! Good ‘ole Bonzu. Hehe.” He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Jinora squinted, leaning forwards. “You two look familiar. Are you sure you aren’t criminals, or that we haven't met before?”

“Oh, oh!” Ikki began bouncing again. “He looks like Great-Uncle Zuko! He’s even got the big scar!” She pointed to Zuko, who looked like his brain was shutting down. 

“Ikki, you can’t just say things like that! It’s rude!” Jinora hissed, but the younger girl ignored her.

“And you…” She squinted at Aang, who was trying very hard not to be noticed. “You look like our grandpa Aang! Also, I really like your hat! Where did you get it? Why are you wearing it? Can I try it on?”

She was cut off by a sniffle, and the four of them turned to see Aang looking incredibly overwhelmed. “Gr-Grandpa?” He sniffled again, and then suddenly burst into tears. “Grandbabies!”

None of them looked entirely sure how to handle the sudden outburst. Zuko hesitantly reached out to pat his shoulder. “There, there?” He said awkwardly, and Aang took it as a signal to wrap himself around Zuko and bawl into his shoulder. 

“Zuko I have grandbabies! Airbending grandbabies! Oh my spirits I have grandchildren! And they’re airbenders! I-” Aang cut himself off, apparently too overwhelmed to speak. After a few minutes the crying had died down, reduced to a few sniffles. Aang released Zuko from his death grip and rubbed his face, smiling waterily at the three kids. His grandkids! Oh spirits, he might just cry again.

“Sorry about that,” He said, sniffling again. “Just, grandkids, you know?”

The three airbender kids, who decidedly did not know, simply nodded.

“I just can’t believe that all four of my grandkids are here right now!” Aang continues, grinning.

“Wha- no. That does _not_ count and you know it-“ Zuko protested, scowling.

Aang was grinning like a lunatic now. “Oh, but you’re one of my favorite grandkids!” He pinched Zuko’s cheeks. “I’m not supposed to have favorites, but all of you are my favorite kids!”

Zuko scowled harder, to no avail. “Stop it.”

“No.”

“Aa- I mean, Bonzu…”

“Be nice to your grandpappy.”

“No.” Zuko grabbed Aang’s arms, effectively preventing any cheek pinching, and swept the younger boy's legs, watching impassionedly as Aang fell face first into the dirt with an ‘oof’. “Perish.”

Aang looked up at him. “You’re being really mean right now.”

Zuko spluttered. “Wha- You’re being mean! Aang, you are being so homophobic right now-”

“Are you implying that I’m straight? I thought we were friends, how could you-”

Jinora sighed. “I’m going to get dad.”

Both boys shouted in protest. “No, no wait-!”

Meelo glared. “Why should we wait?”

The two exchanged panicked glances. “Uh, well,” Aang stuttered. “Because I can do- hold on, give me a second-” He stuck his hand in his pocket, rummaging around for something. “This!” He pulled out two marbles, which he began spinning around between his hands.

For a moment, everyone was frozen. No one dared make a sound.

Then, chaos.

“YOU’RE AN AIRBENDER?”

In the background, there was the faint sound of Zuko groaning and putting his head in his hands.

The three kids were jumping around, practically exploding with excitement, peppering Aang with questions. He stood up, brushing the dirt off his robes, and turned to grin at the other three. “I’m technically not supposed to be here, but I really wanted to meet other airbenders. I have to keep my identity a secret though, so you guys can’t tell anyone, not even your dad.”

The three kids frowned, looking very suspicious, but before they could question it, Aang bent an air scooter. “You guys wanna race?”

He was met with enthusiastic cheers as the three formed their own air scooters, and they quickly zoomed off, Zuko running behind them.

The five of them eventually reached a set of wooden poles. “This is our start and finish line,” Ikki declared. “One lap around the island! And we gotta stay on the path, no cheating!” She turned around to glare at Meelo, who didn’t look guilty in the slightest. 

Aang pointed at Zuko. “Li can be our referee, since he isn’t an airbender.” Zuko only waved tiredly in response as he leaned against a wooden pole.

The four of them lined up on their air scooters, Zuko sticking out an arm. “Three, two one, go!” He lifted his arm in the air and the four of them sped past him, knocking him to the ground and messing up his hair.

Aang grinned. He hadn’t played with another airbender in so long! He was determined to win this. Thankfully, the path went all around the island, so he didn’t have to worry about getting lost, but his grandkids definitely had the advantage here. It was so weird to think about them being his grandkids! He quickly shook his head, realizing he had fallen behind. 

He leaned forward, speeding up, and found himself speeding next to Meelo. Meelo turned to him and stuck out his tongue, blowing him a raspberry. Not to be beaten, Aang blew one back, knocking his air scooter into the younger boys. But Meelo was determined and pushed back, the two of them face to face. 

With a sudden burst of speed, Aang sped forward and away from Meelo, quickly swerving to avoid crashing into Ikki. Ikki giggled as she flew forward, Aang right on her tail. The two of them raced in front of each other, never letting the other stay ahead for too long. 

They rounded around a sharp curve, Ikki almost flying off the path as she turned a little too widely. Aang quickly took the opportunity to zoom ahead, catching up with Jinora. She smirked at him which just made Aang even more determined. He was going to win this! 

He knocked into her air scooter and she knocked back, the two of them flying in opposite directions on the course. They barely dodged a massive tree that was growing right in the middle of the path, both of them head to head. Aang looked up, seeing the finish line ahead. He was so close to victory! 

He leaned forward, putting as much energy into his air scooter as possible, and he noticed as Jinora did the same beside him. He pushed forward, zooming as fast as he could. Both him and Jinora flew over the finish line, startling Zuko, who let out a few muffled curses as they blew him over.

Behind them Ikki and Meelo crossed the finish line, and the four of them laid down on the grass, completely exhausted. Aang was grinning like a maniac. He hadn’t had that much fun in years! His friends were great, but it was hard being the only airbender, especially when you wanted to play airbending games. He sat up and turned to Zuko, who was trying to fix his hair as he pushed himself up off the ground. “So who won?”

Zuko stared at him. “Wha-? Oh.” His brow furrowed as he thought. “You guys were moving so fast, it was kinda hard to tell. Both of you passed the finish line at the same time, so I think it was a tie.”

So close! Oh well.

Jinora turned to him, grinning. “That was really fun! I haven’t raced against someone like that before. You’re really good!” Her grin turned shy. “Do you wanna play some other games? We could play airball. Since there’s four of us there’d be equal teams.”

Aang grinned so hard, he felt like his face was splitting. “I would love to!” He hadn’t played airball in forever, that one time with Sokka not counting.

Before he could get up, Ikki pointed behind him. “Look at that!”

The five of them turned around to see the metalbending police headquarters lit up with flashing red lights. There was smoke coming out of a window, accompanied by the faint sounds of a siren, and it looked like general chaos.

“That happened the other night! And then Lin said it was because there were some people that broke out and in!” Ikki continued, ignoring Aang and Zuko’s panicked glances.

“Ikki, it's in and out, not out and in,” Jinora argued in the background.

“No, Lin said that it was out and in.”

The two boys looked at each other and nodded. The last time this had happened was most likely because of them breaking in and out, and if it was happening again it could only mean one thing. As much as Aang wanted to stay, they needed to go find their friends.

He turned to the three kids, who were still arguing. “I’d really like to stay, but me and Li need to go help our friends.”

The three kids pouted. “Aww, do you really have to go? Can’t you stay a little bit longer?”

Aang smiled sadly. “Our friends might be in trouble, so we need to go and help them. But I’ll try to come back later!”

Ikki stared at him with watery eyes. “It was super fun hanging out with you!”

Meelo pointed a finger at him. “You better come back!”

Jinora smiled and waved. “It was nice meeting you.”

Aang paused, deciding something, and then hugged the three of them, a few tears slipping down his face. “It was good meeting you all,” he whispered. Eventually he let go, backing away as he wiped his face with his sleeve.

“Bye!” The three kids shouted and waved as Aang and Zuko walked away towards the shore. Eventually, their cries faded out, and it was only the two boys in the dark.

It was quiet as they walked, their shoes crunching in the sand. They stopped at the shore, the cold waves lapping at their feet. Aang took a deep breath, in and out.

“Hey Aang?”

He turned to face Zuko. “Yeah?”

“Sorry for saying that this was a dumb idea.”

“No, no, it was!” Aang protested. “I just wanted to meet some airbenders, and I didn’t care about blowing our cover!” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I don’t regret it though. I don’t care if everyone knows my identity.”

Zuko put a hand on his shoulder. “Honestly, at this point I don’t think it really matters if our identities are a secret. We’ve been taking full advantage of being in the future to learn about what happens in 70 years, and we should have let you do with the same with the airbenders. I know how much meeting them meant to you.”

Aang sniffled, willing himself not to cry again “Thanks, Zuko,” he whispered, voice hoarse. “That means a lot.” 

The two of them stepped into the water and Aang bent an icy raft. The two of them began sailing back towards the city, and away from Air Temple Island.

_____

Getting in had been easy enough.

The three of them had already busted in before, and even though they were missing half their group, it was easy enough to slip into the police building. It. was crawling with guards, presumably because of Suki, but it was easy enough to tunnel underground and pop out in an empty hallway.

Toph grinned as she put all of her energy into focusing where the guards were, making sure to lead her teammates down the empty hallways. All the while, she was searching for Suki’s heartbeat.

Thankfully, their stint in here before had left them with a vague idea of where the interrogation rooms were, so Sokka, Katara, and Toph were currently heading in that direction.

The three of them quickly climbed up a set of metal stairs, her toes curling against the cold surface.

“I’m pretty sure this is the floor with the interrogation rooms,” Sokka whispered.

Toph nodded as she stretched her senses. “Yep. I can feel a bunch of rooms similar to the one we were in the other night. Plus, this floor is _swarming_ with guards.” Her head tilted as she concentrated, frowning as she searched. “I don’t sense Suki though- wait!” She held up a finger. “There’s a set of rooms on the other side of the building. They’re reinforced with metal, but they seem similar to the interrogation rooms.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’d have to get closer to confirm, though.”

Sokka smacked his fist in his palm, voice determined. “If Suki’s anywhere, she’s probably there.” He stepped forward. “Alright, lets go-”

He yelped as Katara tugged on the back of his shirt. “Sokka! There’s guards still!” She turned to Toph. “What’s the best way to get over there?”

Toph thought for a moment, then grinned. “There’s too many guards to be sneaky, especially with Snoozles over here.” She ignored Sokka’s outraged “Hey!” She stepped forward. “We’re going to do this the Toph way.”

“What’s the- oh no,” Katara said, but Toph ignored her as she stepped out into the hallway, where three metalbenders were standing guard. They turned to stare at her, and one of them made a move for his radio. Toph reached out, feeling for the small, fragile metal contraption and all of its delicate components, and crushed it as she squeezed her hand. She grinned, then pushed her hands forward, feeling the metalbender’s armor and sending it, and the metalbenders, flying backwards across the hallway.

She turned back to where Snoozles and Sugar Queen were staring at her, presumably in shock or awe, and grinned. “Let’s go!”

After a moment of hesitation, the Water Tribe siblings stepped forward, following behind Toph as they made their way down the hallway.

They had only been walking for a little while when a group of guards came running up. In the background, a siren started wailing loudly.

Behind her, she could hear the sloshing of water as Katara settled into a bending stance.

For a moment, everyone was still. Toph felt the metalbenders shift, and then metal cables were flying everywhere. She jerked her arm to the side, the wall unfolding to form a shield that blocked most of the cables, and grabbed the one that had skidded by her ankle. She tugged it towards her, hearing the scrape of the metalbenders' armor across the floor, and then sent it flying backwards, hearing it wrap around the first metalbenders and trip a few others.

“Duck!” she heard Katara shout. Toph dove down as she heard a large wave of water rush over her head. There was a thud and she heard a metal bender shout as he flew into a wall.

Katara ran over to her. “Toph, Sokka and I can handle this. We’ll distract them while you go grab Suki,” she whispered frantically. Toph nodded and took off running, ignoring the guards shouts as she sent a wave of metal behind her.

As she ran, she pressed her hand against the cool metal, sensing for her friend. Feeling a faint heartbeat, she ran faster, stopping when she reached in front of the room where Suki was. 

There were two guards outside, but they were easy enough to take care of; Toph stomped her foot, knocking them over with a wave of metal. She paused before entering, sensing two other figures in the room with Suki. Korra and Lin. She had to be careful about this.

Taking a deep breath, she shoved her arms forward, the wall flying forward and sending the two across the room. She grinned and put her hands on her hips as she turned to Suki, who’s heartrate had skyrocketed. With a flick of her wrists, she undid the girls cuffs.

“Hey there, _big sis_!”

She heard Suki mutter something under her breath, but Toph ignored it as Suki made her way over. The girl rubbed her wrists “Toph, what’s going on?”

“Busting you out, duh!”

Suki opened her mouth to say something, but stopped as Toph grabbed her arm and tugged her down the hallway. “Cmon, I left Katara and Sokka by themselves, we gotta go help them!” At that, Suki began running, and the two of them sprinted down the hallway.

“I’M BACK, BITCHES!” Toph screeched as she stomped on the floor, sending out waves of rippling metal that sent the metalbenders collapsing to the floor.

“Suki!” Sokka cried as he ran over and enveloped her in a hug. He pulled her back, looking her over. “Are you ok?”

“Hey, romance later, fleeing now!” Toph interrupted, stomping her foot. She turned to face the outer wall and shoved, the wall folding down and out to form a ramp leading to the ground. “Let’s go kids, all aboard the Toph slide!”

“I’m not really sure this is safe- wait!” Sokka cried as Katara jumped, sliding down the ramp. Suki nudged Sokka’s arm, and then leapt down as well.

“Cmon Snoozles, we don’t have all day.”

“But-“ Sokka said hesitantly.

“Nope!” She grinned, and she heard him gulp. Good.

“Toph-AUGH!” He screamed as she gave him a _tiny_ shove, screaming as he slid the whole way down.

Cackling, she slid her way down, folding the metal behind her so the other benders couldn’t use it. She landed on the sidewalk and grinned. “Whew!” Sokka rubbed his head, presumable scowling at her. She ignored him.

“We should probably head back to Appa,” Suki said, already running. The three of them nodded and quickly followed, leaving the angered cries of metalbenders behind them.

The four of them ran, quickly rounding corners until the streets turned into sand under their feet. She could feel the big furry guy under her feet, and she took no shame into crashing into his soft fur. From the sounds of it, the others were doing the same.

“Aang and Zuko are still missing…” she heard Katara say softly.

A shifting of fabric. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. They’ll probably come back here eventually. They can handle themselves.” Suki.

“Still…” Katara said worriedly.

They sat there for a while, enjoying the chance to rest, when there was an odd yet familiar noise of air shifting above her.From the others excited cries, it could only mean one thing. Aang’s glider.

She felt his feet touch the earth, and sensed him letting go of Zuko. Well, that was the last two members of their little gang accounted for.

She heard Katara fretting over the two of them as they brushed her off. “Where did you guys go?” She heard Sokka ask. She felt both their hearts jump, and Aang’s nervous laughter as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh, we were just around, sightseeing.” She smiled into Appa’s fur. Liars. But they had clearly had more fun then the four of them did, and if they wanted to keep it a secret, that was up to them. She wasn’t a snitch.

“Hey, guys, I think we need to talk about something.” Suki interrupted, sitting down and leaning into Appa’s fur. 

Aang and Zuko nodded, following suit. “Us too.”

The six of them sat down against Appa, looking at Suki to start the conversation. She took a deep breath, then sighed. “We’ve been hiding our identities since we first got here, right? And we all agreed it was probably the best course of action. But…” she trailed off. “I don’t think it’s a good idea anymore. I mean, at this point it would be a lot easier if we just told everyone the truth. Both Korra and Lin have offered to help us get back home, and we’d have to be stupid to pass that up!” She threw her hands in the air. “Sorry. But what I’m saying is, I think we should tell them. At this rate, it might just come out on its own, which would definitely be a lot worse. It’s not like we’ve been trying that hard to conceal our identities.”

Aang nodded. “Yeah, Suki’s right. We could continue to hide, but it’s honestly just better if we tell them before it escalates any more than it already has. And my motives for this are a little selfish, but I wanna be able to meet my kids as an airbender.”

Toph fist pumped in agreement. “Yeah! I wanna tell my daughter that I’m her mom!”

She felt Suki’s heart rate settle down. She must have calmed down now that people were on her side. “We won’t do it right now, of course. But tomorrow. So we all agree?”

A chorus of agreement.

“All right!” Sokka cheered. “Tomorrow, we tell the truth! Tonight, we nap.” And with that, he fell back onto Appa, instantly falling asleep. Toph could feel the others moving around as they settled down and smiled, letting herself drift to sleep with her family around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you all liked that suki cliffhanger,,,, hehe *dodges tomatoes*
> 
> next up is the finale! thankfully I have a free week so I’ll be able to sit down and rewatch the finale and plot out the next two chapters,, hopefully it’ll be out sooner then this one was but who knows
> 
> thank y’all again for ur support bc I never thought I’d get this far,, 48k words now it’s crazy
> 
> make sure to go eat/drink something and take ur meds, I love y’all!!! :D


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